


on the devil's backbone

by ashmes



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Bandits & Outlaws, Bounty Hunters, Cowboys & Cowgirls, M/M, Minor Violence, Sexual Content, Wild West
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-08-12 04:15:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashmes/pseuds/ashmes
Summary: “You know,” Sasuke says. “You could just shoot me.”“Bullets get expensive, Sasuke,” Naruto replies, voice low and steady. There’s an ease in his words—a sense of familiarity the years hasn’t worn down yet. “I’m not here to kill you anyway. We’re leaving.”—Sasuke's an outlaw, a criminal, with a price on his head so high it'd make any bounty hunter try their hands to reel him in. That's why Naruto's going to be the one to catch up to him first.





	1. a man on the run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pancakefucker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancakefucker/gifts).

> AH! So you know how you have this show you've been meaning to watch for forever and once you do you totally hyperfixate and all you can do is think about the damn thing? That's me with Naruto LMAO. I have like two other fics in progress but this is the one where the first chapter finished first, so voila! PLUS, I've been obsessed with cowboys for forever, 'cause they're gay, I'm gay. You know the gist.
> 
> HUGE SHOUT OUT TO IZZY (@stansasuke/mcccree on tumblr) whom I've gifted this fic too! Without them this would've never came to be, and they've corrected some grammar/timeframe mistakes, so of course I gotta give credit where credit is due <3
> 
> Song of choice: Devil's Backbone - Civil Wars  
The title was gonna be cracky like: save a horse (ride a cowboy). But I changed my mind 'cause I've had devil's backbone on repeat and also coincidentally on my normal sns playlist so... LMAO
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

A wanted poster of Sasuke Uchiha catches his eye. 

Dark eyes stare back at him, unmoving. Even in black and white print, there was a quality to those eyes that left Naruto’s heart clenching at the mere sight of him—not even the real, living and breathing version of Sasuke, but a snapshot of him flapping in the wind on some post outside a nearly empty saloon. Most people would chuck it up as a strange coincidence he’d find the wanted poster of a friend missing for years on his recent bounty, but Naruto knew there were rarely coincidences this glaring in a world as big as Kanoha.

Of course Naruto knew he’d find Sasuke eventually, no doubt had ever crossed his mind. It was only a matter of where and when.

Time did nothing to blur the memory of Sasuke from his mind. In fact, it only ever sharpened his senses—his gaze shifting whenever a man with dark hair stepped into town or zeroing in on a description of a body found in the middle of the desert that could possibly belong to his friend. Staring at the man in the poster, he was surprised how the years didn’t leave the other unrecognizable to Naruto. Whenever he thought of how Sasuke’s appearance would change with age, he could never really move past the childhood image of Sasuke etched into his memory. There was a maturity to his face now, his jaw sharp and defined, dark hair curling behind his ears.

Sasuke wasn’t smiling in the picture, but his eyes were smirking at him from beyond the page. Naruto’s eventually forces his gaze away, his eyes falling towards the bottom of the page to search for the price on Sasuke’s head.

“Holy fucking shit,” he breathes out, voice barely above a whisper. Part of him wonders if he read it wrong, if his eyes finally gave out on him, but no—he was rarely ever that lucky when it came to his search. “Who the hell did you piss off, Sasuke?”

Clear as day, the numbers remained unchanged. Five thousand dollars for the body of Sasuke Uchiha, dead or alive, it didn’t matter. With a price like that on his head, no one in their right mind would risk their life in order to bring him in, considering he knew Sasuke would rather die fighting than go in handcuffs.

Good thing Naruto has always considered a right mind to be overrated.

All he wants as soon as he caught a glimpse of the wanted poster was to hightail and book it to the last known location and ride until he finds him, according to the poster anyway. Instead he tears the paper from the post its nailed to, stuffs it into his satchel without another glance. Naruto’s been in this business long enough to know going after a wanted criminal without a plan and information could be the difference between a successful mission or a not so successful mission, even if the criminal in question is Sasuke. He’s not intending to fail this one.

The only person who’d have more intel on Sasuke than he did was Sakura, only a couple towns over according to her last letter a few months ago. From there, he’d drop off his recent bounty, gather supplies for the journey ahead, and head towards Sasuke’s last known location. Easy peasy.

“I’m not helping you in your grand journey to find Sasuke, Naruto,” Sakura answers pointedly, much to his obvious dismay. “Besides, I gave up that bounty hunting life years ago—I’m following the nurse’s route now.” 

Naruto squints in her direction, unsure of he heard that right. Has it been that long since he’s been into town? So much has changed, and here he felt the same as when he first started this search. The poster had been the most recent clue for what must have been months of radio silence or weeks old inconclusive leads, and he felt the weight of it in his satchel. 

“Yeah, a nurse, but never a doctor, huh?” He’s always known how to cut to the heart of with her in a way he rarely does with anyone else. “I’m not even asking you to drop everything you’re doing here to come with me, just tell me what I need to know and I’ll be back before the new year rides in. Promise.”

“_ Enough _ with the promises, Naruto,” Sakura snaps. He stares, dumbfounded, until Sakura sighs like defeat. “Words aren’t the same as having you here in town. We miss you—I miss you. You’re chasing someone who doesn’t want to be found, so just _ stay home _.”

There’s a moment where the mask falls. Just a moment and one can see it, the utter desperation Naruto can’t hide behind a grin or a loud voice. “You know I can’t do that.”

Both of them understood the importance of what was left unspoken. 

Sakura sighs and shakes her head, and Naruto chuckles awkwardly as the familiar look of regret flashes on her face. “If you leave before nightfall, we’ll be able to catch up with them before they get out too far from the county limits.”

“Nightfall?” There’s no way he could be hearing this right. “So this sighting was recent-recent.” A beat. “We?”

He raises a brow questioningly, and when he catches the roll of her eyes in confirmation he can’t help but grin at the sudden familiarity wash over them—as if the years had melted away, back in the old days picking up bounty after bounty side-by-side.

Apparently she missed this too. 

“Uzumaki, you’re the luckiest bastard I’ve ever met,” Sakura yells against the roar of the wind as their horses speed through the grasslands, “I hope you know what you’re getting into!”

Naruto bursts with laughter in response, a sense of freedom washing over him—the rush of speeding on horseback as the wind rushed through his hair, the rest of the world melted away. It was a feeling he’d chase forever if he had to.

_ Of course I know what I’m getting into _ , he muses, _ Why else would I be trying to save this asshole’s life? _

They head west as the sun sinks behind an endless gray sky.

  


***

  


The bounty hunter has been following them for a while now.

Sasuke’s been chased around the country long enough to know when he’s being followed or not, and knows when he’s being actively hunted. He knows, also, that it’s one bounty hunter, because with the rest of Taka around him, there’s no way a sole bounty hunter could have taken Sasuke. And still, the fact that the bounty hunter is alone does little to calm Sasuke’s nerves. He hates being watched, hates the pinprick going up his neck when he knows he’s being stared at, hates feeling like prey, not predator. Sasuke is no gunslinger, but he’d take an honest-to-god duel than whatever the hell this lying in wait bullshit is, like waiting for something to snap.

It’ll be Sasuke, if the bounty hunter doesn’t have the balls to start shooting at Sasuke soon. 

“We’re being followed,” Juugo says to him, riding his horse up next to his. Juugo’s voice is quiet, trying not to alert Karin and Suigetsu, which is pointless. If Sasuke already knows, then Karin and Suigetsu are probably going to realize, too.

“I know,” Sasuke says. 

“Should we kill him?”

The country surrounding them is open and flat—grasslands country. Strokes of green painted across the earth, in large, generous strokes, with the occasional rocky outcropping. If they keep riding for just a while longer, they’ll reach the hills, and the surrounding forests, and they can make camp before moving on, further out west, beyond civilization.

As it is, though, something should be done about the bounty hunter. Sasuke doesn’t want to kill him now, though. Not when the country around them is so wide and open, and when gunshots could so easily carry in the air. 

“No,” Sasuke says. “If he’s come alone, he’s come for me. No offense.”

“None taken,” Juugo replies. It is true. Sasuke has a bounty on his head going up to four thousand, last he saw. Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu barely hit six hundred, each. “So what should we do?”

“Make camp. Wait for him to get close and catch him. See if we can find out from him if there are any other bounty hunters on our trail, and find out how he knew where we were in the first place.” Sasuke reaches into his satchel, fishes out an oatcake, and reaches over to feed it over to his horse. 

“And then?”

“And then we do whatever we want with him,” Sasuke says, wiping his hand down his pants. “Kill him, send him back to whatever civilized hole he crawled out of, I don’t care. We just have to keep moving.” 

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Suigetsu yells, from the back of the formation.

“About all the money we’ll make handing you over to bounty hunters,” Sasuke answers, over his shoulders. 

“Sasuke,” Karin yells, “how much longer do we have to ride? My ass is all sore!”

“Just a little more further,” Sasuke says, as loud as he can. “Up there, in between the hills!”

“Race you!” Karin shouts, shifting on her house, and suddenly, she speeds and barrels past Juugou, and Sasuke, her laughter carrying in the wind.

Suigetsu doesn’t even waste any time on complaints, as his horse suddenly picks up speed and chases after Karin, and Juugou sighs, glances at the two of them with a dejected stare Sasuke usually holds. It’s part of the reason why the two of them get along as well as they do.

“Should I be worried?” Juugo asks. “You know as well as I do that as ugly as it is, leaving witnesses behind leaves a trail for others to follow.”

“We don’t kill anyone who doesn’t need killing,” Sasuke says, plainly. “I don’t need my bounty getting any higher.”

At least, that’s what Sasuke reasons with himself anyway. If Juugo doubts him, he knows better than to voice it aloud. 

They ride for at least another hour before they reach the hilltop, the forest spread beneath them in a sea of green. It’s actually a beautiful view, but he can’t let himself enjoy it for more than a few moments before he instructs the rest of Taka to help in setting up camp. Luckily it doesn’t take too long. All of them travel relatively light, sans Suigetsu who insists on carrying a heavy sword instead of pistols and daggers like the rest. Before long their tents are standing tall, the horses fed, and the promise of twilight twinkling above. All that’s left is to gather wood for the fire so they can eat something warm.

Sasuke volunteers to retrieve it, only so Suigetsu and Karin could quit arguing about who collected it last, though Sasuke distinctly remembers neither of them performing the task. He doesn’t mind. It allows him a rare moment of solitude he hasn’t had since he left Konoha behind all those years ago. 

Except instead of the momentary peace he’d been expecting, the familiar sense of being watched fills his senses with a vengeance. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up, heart beating just that much faster. 

Whoever’s been chasing them has finally caught up. A hungry smirk crosses Sasuke’s face.

Quickly, he sends a signal back to Taka—a whistle reminiscent to the sound of a Hawk. A couple of seconds later and three chirps respond, signaling his message has been received. All he has to do now is wait, and collect firewood of course. 

A couple minutes pass by and nothing happens, until he bends down, back turned, and the nozzle of a gun presses against his spine makes him still.

“Found you,” says an all too familiar voice.

It’s Naruto. Because of course it is.

Sasuke’s not really one to believe in fate, but what else can this be? So much distance put between him and Konoha, between him and Naruto, and still, somehow, his old life manages to catch up to him. No reunions, no jokes—just a gun, pressed up against his back, and Sasuke thinks that at least Naruto learned to stay quiet when it mattered the most. 

“You know,” Sasuke says. “You could just shoot me.”

“Bullets get expensive, Sasuke,” he replies, voice low and steady. There’s an ease in his words—a sense of familiarity the years hasn’t worn down yet. “I’m not here to kill you anyway. We’re leaving.”

Sasuke raises his arms, easily, lazily, like Naruto isn’t literally breathing down his neck. Juugou and Suigetsu should be around here, and they must be watching. Waiting to catch Naruto. Sasuke turns around, slowly, to look Naruto in the eye. 

Time hasn’t made Naruto a stranger, not as Sasuke had hoped. His features have grown more sharper, his jaw squarer, but he still has those too-blue eyes, fringed by girlish lashes, and that open, naive roundness to his features that really never suited a bounty hunter. Still Naruto, even after all these years. Sasuke was a fool to think otherwise.

“Leaving?” Sasuke drawls, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk. He steps forward, trying to close the gap between him and Naruto. A distraction. “And where shall we be going to, Mr. Uzumaki? My hanging?” 

Naruto swallows, brows furrowing slightly. The determination in his gaze doesn’t shift, eyes roaming over him until they settle on a fixed point. “No, you idiot. Are your ears no good anymore? I’m trying to make sure you _ don’t _ get killed.”

Sasuke’s eyes flicker down to the gun Naruto’s holding, and then he looks at Naruto again, lifting an eyebrow. “Really? It sure doesn’t look like that from where I’m standing.” 

“If only you knew what I do, but hey, we all can’t be as smart and clever as me.” He jokes, and presses the gun against his chest, finger notably far off the trigger. “Let’s go, before your ‘friends’ come looking for you. I’m not going back without you.”

“Aw, buddy,” Sasuke says, with a sigh. There—the sign he was waiting for, all this time. Suigetsu, sneaking up behind Naruto, as quiet as a snake. “You’re not going back, _ period _.”

It happens a little too quickly for Sasuke’s liking. There’s the flash of confusion on Naruto’s face, and that very momentary panic that Sasuke feels, thinking that Naruto is going to shoot him. But it doesn’t happen. Naruto turns around, probably to shoot at Suigetsu, Sasuke disarms him, and after a brief tussle Sasuke has Naruto pinned to the ground, Naruto’s gun now pointed right back at its owner. Not even a gun against his spine keeps him from fighting, struggling against his hold, grunting with the effort of it. It’s only when Sasuke unclicks the safety does he still, breathing hard against the dirt.

Sasuke refuses to let his thoughts linger on why Naruto thought it’d be a good idea to ambush him without the intent to kill. 

“Hey, Naruto,” Sasuke says, mocking, digging the nuzzle right into Naruto’s back. “Should I shoot you?”

“Prefer if you didn’t,” he responds, breathless. There’s a fiery look in his eye as he glances up at Sasuke, as if this were a game and not a moment of life and death. “Are you going to kill me, Sasuke?”

If Naruto’s afraid, he doesn’t show it.

“Are you?” Suigetsu asks.

“No,” Sasuke says, unhesitating. “Tie him up. Bring him back to camp.” He pats Naruto down, takes off Naruto’s satchel, his knife, and his holster, and pockets it for himself. “We can properly rob him once we get him into camp.”

“Okay,” Suigetsu says, and Sasuke doesn’t miss the apprehension in his voice. “You’re the boss.” 

Suigetsu takes the bandana hanging from Naruto’s neck and stuffs it into his mouth, nearly catching his finger from Naruto’s teeth. It briefly reminds him of when they were kids, how Naruto never knew when to stay down after getting thoroughly pummelled in a wrestling match the other had started. How he still had all this energy after all these years were beyond him. Suigetsu’s not gentle in tying up Naruto, the knots in the rope appearing strong and sturdy. Naruto stares at Sasuke unblinking. 

There’s a calmness in Naruto’s eyes, as if he expected something like this would happen. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Sasuke says. “We’re outlaws. You never thought I’d _ actually _ go with you, did you?”

Naruto’s gaze is unblinking. 

“Come on,” Sasuke says, and he jostles Naruto forward, towards camp. “We got a long way ahead of us, Naruto.” 

***  
  


Naruto’s an idiot, but he’s not stupid where it counts. People underestimating him has always been his secret weapon when it came to his bounties, and, thankfully, Sasuke was no different.

There was a moment, briefly, that had him holding his breath. The thread of the end pressed hot and heavy against his back. A part of him actually believed Sasuke would actually shoot him.

Naruto’s just glad he didn’t.

Nightfall came sooner than any of them expected, and by the time they returned to Sasuke’s camp, dinner was already cooking over the fire by a couple of his lackies who stayed behind during their showdown. A ginger-haired mountain of a man, who slowly stirs the stew simmering over the fire with a gentleness that was incongruent with his frame, and some redhead with glasses, muttering under her breath as she uses a mortar and pestle to make some sort of--paste? Naruto’s not too sure, and both of them barely look up as Sasuke and his other croney return with Naruto in tow. 

“Took you long enough,” the man watching the stew says. 

“Could have done it faster if you and Karin decided to help,” Sasuke says, with no real vitriol in his voice. “Me and Suigetsu had to do all the hard work.”

“And do you know how hard it is for Juugo to cook?” the red-head girl, who must be Karin, says, setting her mortar and pestle down on the ground. “And you brought back some bounty hunter who we’re going to have to put into a ditch.” 

“Not yet,” Sasuke says. “Not this one.”

And then they settle in. Suigetsu pushes Naruto to the center of camp, right next to the bonfire and the stew, his back pressed up against a fallen log, while Sasuke and Karin talk about something or the other. Suigetsu alternates between 

There’s no sign of Orochimaru anywhere in sight. No extra tent, no empty space meant for the man who took Sasuke away from him. He’s not sure how he feels about it.

All he knows is he’s grateful Sakura’s intel was right.

Somewhere in the outskirts, covered in the darkness and trees, Sakura was watching. He could feel her gaze somewhere beyond the darkness, waiting, a common ploy they held when they worked a job together. If he manages to avoid pissing anyone off, all of this would be over in a couple of hours after everyone else had fallen asleep, and they’d make it back to Konoha before the sun set the next day. All he has to do is act captured, which, considering how the ropes were digging into his skin, shouldn’t be too difficult. 

The smell of food hits his senses, and the roaring gurgle of his stomach shook his concentration. Just because he has to wait for Sakura doesn’t mean he can’t try and get a bite to eat until it’s time.

Naruto scoots his butt against the dirt, inching close enough until he can kick at Sasuke’s feet with the tip of his boot. If he didn’t kill him when Naruto had a gun pointed at him, asking for food had a fifty percent shot he’d actually get any.

“I’m hungry,” he says, though the bandana stuffed in his mouth distorts it. He gestures towards the pot hanging over fire. 

“Trust me, you don’t want to eat this,” Sasuke replies, blandly. He holds the bowl out, so Naruto can see, and Sasuke knows it doesn’t matter to Naruto. Doesn’t mean he can’t be an asshole about it, though. “Look at this slop.”

“Hey, don’t insult my cooking,” Juugo says, mildly. “Let’s see you cook, Sasuke.”

“I got the meat and the vegetables,” Sasuke says. “Why should I be cooking?” He slides a look to Naruto, out of the corner of his eye. “Right, Naruto? It’s only fair.”

Naruto glances at Sasuke, squinting, speaking as clearly as he can manage, “I wouldn’t eat your cooking anyway. It’s shit.”

“Making a real case for why I should feed you in the first place,” Sasuke says. “Remember? You, me, Sakura, and Kakashi. Us kids, and Kakashi told us not to give you any lunch or else he’d stop teaching us and I fed you anyway? Good times, huh?”

Of course Naruto remembers. As if it wasn’t the first moment he realized Sasuke actually cared for him, as if he doesn’t replay those memories in his head. He settles the defiance running through him, not enough to keep it from his eyes, but hopefully enough for Sasuke to consider not letting him starve. 

He huffs, glances down at the bandana, at the bowl in Sasuke’s hands, then Sasuke himself. It’s the closest to surrender he’ll come to tonight.

“If it’ll shut him up,” Suigetsu offers. “Up to you though. Personally I’d rather not give him my rations if I don’t have to.”

“If he answers my question, maybe,” Sasuke says. “You didn’t come here alone, did you?” 

All eyes are on him. Naruto’s never been the best liar, always has his emotions on his sleeves and what he’s thinking plain as day on his face, but he’s not about to give up Sakura. Not when everything’s dependent on her.

“I’m alone,” Naruto answers evenly, careful to keep his expression neutral as he looks Sasuke right in the eyes. Last thing he wants is to give any sign of deception. “Thought I could catch you if you wandered off from the others, but looks like I was wrong. Bad intel, I guess.”

Sasuke smiles. Ah, shit.

“You’ve gotten better at lying, Uzumaki.” The smile disappears just as quick as it came, and Sasuke snaps his head to Suigetsu, Juugou, and Karin. “Pack up. Get ready to move. And get some shut-eye. We don’t know how many he brought here, so I want you all awake and alert and ready to split, when things go haywire. You understand me?”

Murmurs of agreement and nods spread throughout the group, no questions asked. 

_ Damn it _ , Naruto glances out at the darkness surrounding them, _ It’s about to get messy _.

The first drop of rain lands right smack on the center of his forehead. A storm is brewing in the air, and they’re about to be trapped right in the middle of it.

***

  


Of course Sasuke expects the incoming storm considering it’s been building all day. The crackle of electricity could be felt deep within his bones from the past few hours, so he’s not particularly surprised when the first fall of rain stops them in their tracks.

What he doesn’t expect is how quick the firefight starts.

A fire bottle greets them first, and Sasuke already knows who Naruto’s backup is. The horses go wild, threatening to run from where they’re stationed, but thankfully it appears no one is seriously hurt. It’s been years since he’s been under Kakashi’s tutelage, but he remembers how Sakura had picked up developing her first line of attack to make up for her lack of accuracy with a pistol. She had smarts and brawn, and knew how to use it back then. All these years later could’ve given plenty of time for her to reform her accuracy, and Sasuke would rather not stick around to test if his theory’s right.

“Sasuke, what the hell do we do?!” Karin yells over the explosion, gun wavering from side to side, unable to determine where the blast comes from. “I can’t see a damn thing in this weather!”

“We don’t know how many followed Naruto,” Sasuke replies, already grabbing the idiot from where his hands are tied. He ignores the glare from his blue eyes, can’t focus on it now. “Get to the randezvous point.”

“Hebi?” Suigetsu asks. “But that’s a couple day’s away from here!”

“That’s where we’re meeting!” Sasuke yells. “Don’t argue with me and go!”

“Incoming!” Juugo calls out, right in the nick of time.

The next bottle explodes with a shatter only several feet in front of them, the heat of the fire blowing in their face. A little too close for comfort. Their tents catch fire and it spreads and grows, too quickly for the rain to smother it down. It takes a moment for the others to scatter towards their horses and take off into the woods, but Sasuke can breathe a little easier knowing his teammates are heading off to safety. Lightning flashes and for a split second, Sasuke can see the barrell of the gun pointed right at Naruto.

He only has a second to react before Sakura fires off the gun, unaware the body she’s aiming at isn’t Sasuke.

Sasuke tackles Naruto to the ground as he feels something hot tear through his right side, a blinding and terrible pain erupting from the spot. A pop sound fills the air followed by thunder as Naruto cries out from the crash into the ground, and Sasuke can only hope to God nothing’s broken because that’s only going to make their situation all the more difficult. When he stares down at Naruto’s wide eyes, swirling with gratitude and fear, the fact he’s still breathing settles the raging storm within Sasuke.

“Get up,” he demands, pulling Naruto up by his suspenders with all the effort he can manage. Every part of him feels numb, adrenaline pumping through him as he all but shoves Naruto in the direction of his sword. “Move, dumbass! We’re getting out of here!”

Naruto doesn’t argue, can’t argue anyway. Sasuke lays out his hands to boost him up to straddle Sasuke’s horse, carrying the weight of him, and Sasuke does the same. Before he loses the idiot, he cuts the rope containing Naruto’s bound hands and pulls down the bandana covering his mouth. 

“Why—” Is Naruto’s first word, strangled in his throat, and despite the fact rain is falling, Sasuke knows when there’s tears burning in his eyes.

“Shut up,” Sasuke retorts, effectively cutting him off before he can say something stupid or sentimental. “You better hold on.”

It’s only a second of warning before Sasuke kicks at the horse’s hind legs, but Naruto’s arms are already around his waist, grip tight. The pressure against his side reminds him of the bullet wound and Sasuke grimaces, but doesn’t let go of the reins. He has to focus on not crashing into the mass of trees as the three of them gallop deeper into the forest. Bullets whiz past them and Sasuke curses Sakura in the back of his mind.

Quick breaths hit the shell of his ear and Naruto’s voice fills his mind, “Sasuke, you’re hurt! Let me take over!”

“No!”

“Don’t be such a stubborn bastard!” Naruto yells, voice high and filled with worry. “I’m not gonna run off without you!”

Sasuke ignores him and continues riding.

After a couple minutes, they’re far enough away and in too far within the concentration of trees to continue at the speed they’re at, so Sasuke slows the pace. His heart is still beating wildly in his ears, the adrenaline making him a little dizzy, a little more aware of the pain in side, but he doesn’t relax or relent. Sakura could still be behind them, chasing, so he can’t say they’re in the clear yet. There needs to be more distance between them.

Naruto’s hold around his waist loosens, but he doesn’t remove himself from being plastered to Sasuke’s back. He feels rather than sees Naruto shifts the positions of his hands, and the pain is brought back to the forefront of his mind when his fingers skim over the center of the wound, a sharp gasp escaping him as his vision darkens at the edge.

“Sasuke, did you get hit?” Naruto asks, worry in the edge of his voice. “I thought you hurt yourself back there from getting me out of the way. Did you get shot?”

“I think so,” he replies, voice distant to his own ears. Everything feels strange, as if the world has permanently tilted to the left and he can’t find his balance. “Dunno. It happened really fast.”

“Shit, shit, fuck. Stop the horse.”

“_ No _.”

“I’m not fucking kidding around. Stop the fucking horse, Sasuke.”

Darkness creeps further into his line of sight, so all he sees is the direction the horse is going towards, the line of trees and bushes. All he can smell is rain and blood.

Oh, he’s going to be sick.

His hands go slack and the reins of the horse slips through his hands.

“Sasuke, stay with me!”

Naruto’s voice is the last he hears before he hits the ground.

  


***

  
  


They find shelter in a cave. Actually, it’s Naruto dragging an in and out of conscious Sasuke through the forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, with no clear visibility, and no idea where the hell he is. It’s sheer luck Naruto actually manages to find somewhere the rain can’t get to them, but if Sasuke cares enough to ask, he found it based off his legendary survival skills. 

If he’s panicking on the inside, Sasuke doesn’t need to know that either. 

He sets Sasuke down onto the cave floor as well as he can manage. The pain in his shoulder returns with a vengeance if he moves it too much in the wrong direction. As soon as he fell against the ground and heard the pop sound, he knew it’d been dislocated—he only wishes the adrenaline would last a little longer so he could put his full attention on Sasuke. A dislocated shoulder hurt like hell, but it wasn’t lethal. 

A bullet wound on the other hand… He shakes his head before he can finish that particular negative train of thought. Can’t think about that now, wouldn’t do either of them any good anyway. 

Quickly, Naruto lifts the soaked fabric of Sasuke’s shirt and sighs in relief. 

The bullet only grazed his side, in and out, simple. It looks worse than it actually is—more blood than actual wound. Still, he isn’t about to sit around and wait for Sasuke to bleed out, or for the wound to get infected, or the inevitable sicknesses that’ll come if they stay in their drenched clothes any longer. 

Sasuke’s hand snakes around Naruto’s wrist without warning, surprisingly strong. A surprised squeak leaves Naruto’s mouth at the suddenness of it. 

“_ Fucking Christ _,” Naruto hisses through the chittering of his teeth, but doesn’t make a move to tear his hand away. Not yet. “I thought you were passed out. You scared the shit outta me, asshole.”

“Not dead,” Sasuke croaks out, his voice hoarse and gravelly. He coughs, and winces, his hand wandering down to his side. “Unless hell has you in it.”

A chuckle escapes past Naruto’s lips again his own volition, the tension easing out of him. “Think it’d be warmer if we were in hell. Always pictured it with a little more flames, a little less rain.” He pauses for a moment, heaving a tired sigh. “You’re going to be okay, but we gotta patch you up first. Got anything to clean the wound with?”

“No,” Sasuke replies. He blinks lazily at Naruto, and squints, as if thinking. Despondently, Naruto wonders if Sasuke’s going to pass out again. “I have some--I think I have a bottle of whiskey on me. In my satchel. Or my saddlebags, either one. If you drink any of it, Naruto, I’ll kill you for real.”

“Don’t think you’re in any kind of position to be making threats, dummy,” he responds. He grabs Sasuke’s satchel from where he threw it earlier, praying to whatever higher power he didn’t break the bottle. “Considering I’m the one who dragged your sorry ass over here.”

There’s a clink as the bottle smacks against something hard in the satchel, and Naruto reaches towards the sound and finds the half-empty bottle of whiskey. All the cloths are damp from the rain, but it’s better than nothing. He pours the bottle over it, lets the cloth soak it, before hovering back over Sasuke. 

“You gonna take it off or do you want me to do it?” Naruto asks, glancing down at the other’s shirt, the smirk on his face almost taunting. “Can’t be helped.”

“Shut up, dimwit,” Sasuke says, and he grits his teeth as he sits up, and lets out a low hiss of pain. He unbuttons his shirt, staring right into Naruto’s eyes, wincing just a little when the fabric of his shirt peels off of his wound. “I got shot in my side. Not my arms.” 

Naruto rolls his eyes and tosses the shirt towards the rest of their things that made it through. “This is gonna hurt.”

He doesn’t bother with a warning before placing the cloth on the wound. If he gives Sasuke a countdown, it’s not going to make the pain any less. With his free hand, he offers the rest of the whiskey bottle to the other in offering. 

“It’ll help,” he offers. “Not as much as left as you’d want, but hey. Now’s a good a time as any to finish it, hm?” 

To his credit, Sasuke doesn’t wince or flinch when Naruto presses the whiskey-soaked-rag onto his wound. He just blinks and bites down on his lip, and when Naruto offers the bottle, Sasuke takes it and chugs down half of it and silently offers the rest of it to Naruto.

Naruto accepts it, tilting his head back as he downs the rest in one go. The burn in his throat is familiar, welcomed. He sets the bottle down and settles his gaze on Sasuke, wiping the blood from his side, and replaces the cloth when it’s more red than white. Luckily, the bleeding is beginning to slow. 

Once the danger of bleeding out passes, he begrudgingly accepts there’s nothing more he can do now until morning, when Naruto can get him to a doctor in the nearest town. He sits back with a heavy sigh, and can’t help but let his gaze linger on Sasuke. It’s been a long time since it’s been just the two of them, alone without any onlookers observing without truly understanding the depth of this _ thing _ between them. Although, truthfully, Naruto can’t understand it himself most times. Every time he thought too hard about him, it had reminded him of what Sasuke had said so long ago— _ it was like instinct _.

Naruto’s eyes travel from meeting Sasuke’s eyes, somehow even more piercing even in the dark of night, to the bridge of his nose and the curve of his mouth and lingers for a second before he realizes he’s _ staring _. He tears his gaze away and settles on Sasuke’s shoulder instead of meeting his eyes, cheeks warm. At first he didn’t notice, but slowly his vision had adjusted to the lack of light and he could see the outlines of a mark in his peripheral, and then another, and another. It took him a moment to realize what they were.

Scars, jagged and ranging in sizes, littering the expanse of his chest. Each one telling a story of a pain Naruto wasn’t there to bear witness to or to soothe. Without thinking, his free hand reaches over to a particularly nasty one, jagged and new skin almost fake-looking, and traces it with the tip of his fingers. As if he were to put more pressure, Sasuke would cry out and scream. He doesn’t. He doesn’t even move away, doesn’t even glance down at Naruto’s fingers, ghosting over his scar. Only staring right at Naruto, his gaze heavy--or drowsy, maybe. Sasuke did lose a lot of blood. 

“I got that,” Sasuke says, mumbling, “in a knife fight.” He takes Naruto’s wrist, boldly, guiding his fingers to another scar, this one on right below his sternum. “I got this when shrapnel hit me after I used some bad dynamite, and this one—” he guides Naruto’s hand, again, to his collarbone—“I got when I saved your life when we were kids.” 

A shaky breath leaves past his lips then, as his gaze settles on the scar on his collarbone. His fingers trace it lightly, barely there. It feels like a dream having Sasuke this close to him again, no longer chasing a ghost of a boy he knew once. “I remember that,” he says, loud enough for Sasuke. “You called me an idiot right after, but I knew what you meant. I always do, even when you don’t.”

“That makes no sense,” Sasuke says. He lets out a slow breath. “You find anybody to replace me?”

Naruto furrows his brows, wondering where Sasuke’s train of thought led him to something as ridiculous as replacing Sasuke. Any other person would just be a mockery of the real him. “No, why would I do that? That’s stupid.”

“So you miss us being at each other’s necks like a bunch of hooligans, huh?” Sasuke asks. “Us trying to outrun and outgun and just about trying to beat each other at everything--you miss that, Naruto?” 

“We had fun,” he says without missing a beat. “And we were friends, Sasuke. Before Orochimaru came, we were friends.” He pauses, head tilting slightly at Sasuke. It’s a question he already knows the answer to, but he _ wants _ to hear it from Sasuke. “Were you the one to kill him?”

“No,” Sasuke says. “A lightning strike came down just as he was riding out to hunt. Of course I killed him. What else was I gonna do with him?” 

Naruto shrugs and instantly regrets it, the throbbing pain of his shoulder making a quick return, and settles himself next to Sasuke for the rest of the night. He rests his head against the slab of the cave wall behind him, tired, the years catching up to him all at once. “Why didn’t you come back after?”

When Sakura had told him Sasuke was the one to end Orochimaru’s life, he didn’t question it. Relieved, maybe. Except the weeks on end with no sign of Sasuke returning to Kanoha had twisted the relief into anxiety, the silence deafening. It wasn’t until the first wanted poster had come out did he realize Sasuke didn’t plan on coming home. He’d been naive enough to believe there was only one obstacle in his way from getting Sasuke back, but with the bastard dead, it had shattered whatever story he’d tell himself to have any of this make any sense to him. 

It’s an ache that’s never really left him since. 

“Why are you still with these people, Sasuke?” Naruto asks, frustration slowly building in his voice. He _ can’t _ stop staring at him. “Why the hell are you still running?”

Sasuke doesn’t say anything. He moves, slowly, until his back is rested against the walls of the cave, and he tips his head back. His eyes flutter shut, and he inhales, exhales. When he opens his eyes again, and looks at Naruto, there’s something hazy and distant about his focus on Naruto, the way his eyes are half-shut, and the way there’s something almost--no, he’s imagining it. Surely. 

“You seem to think I’m running away from you,” Sasuke says. “I’m not running, Naruto. I’m chasing. I thought you of all people would understand.”

_ Ah _, so it’s still about his brother. Naruto can’t pretend to be shocked.

“I could’ve helped you with Itachi, Sasuke,” he mutters. “If that’s the reason you couldn’t come home yet, you could’ve told me, and I would’ve been out there with you. You never came back. I thought… I thought maybe you’d forgotten about—forgotten about me. About our bond.”

There’s a rush that goes through his head as he utters those words, almost dizzy with them. They had been stuck in a loop in his head for so long now, and saying them out loud to Sasuke made him feel lightheaded. Or maybe it was the whiskey finally settling within his veins. Maybe a bit of both.

“Our bond,” Sasuke repeats, with a scoff. “Our _ bond _, Naruto, is the one thing I’d hoped to leave behind when I left Konoha. And now I’m starting to think if I ever did leave it behind.” He reaches out, to muss up Naruto’s hair. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

He leans in to Sasuke’s touch, despite himself. He’s missed it more than he realizes. “But you didn’t kill me,” he points out, the corners of his lips upturning into a grin. “You don’t mean that. I don’t think you want me dead, Sasuke. Just like I don’t want you to die.”

Naruto wonders, briefly, once again if Sasuke feels what he feels. 

“I want…” Naruto says, slowly, gaze searing into Sasuke’s dark eyes. He’s closer now, can make out the soft inhale and exhale of Sasuke’s breathing. “Please, come with me, Sasuke. We could be happy… together.”

“And the five thousand dollar bounty on my head? The people that want me gone? That’s just going to go away, is it?”

“I’ll protect you.” Naruto doesn’t skip a beat. “We can figure it out, _ together _. Head out where no one knows our names. Start over.”

“And you’re going to leave everything and everyone in your life just for me? You expect me to believe that?” Sasuke says, and he lets out a soft laugh, his breath hitting Naruto in the face. 

Being this close to Sasuke makes it hard to breathe. His heartbeat pounds in his ears like a drum, only gaining and gaining. “Don’t laugh at me,” he grunts out, frustrated. “Everyone said I should have let you go, leave you alone, let someone kill you off instead of bothering. But I’ve been risking my life for years to get to you, do you understand? _ Believe _ that.”

And he’s not thinking, not really, when he reaches out towards Sasuke and tangles his fingers in his hair. His whole body’s trembling, unable to control himself. The anger, the want, the desperation finally coming to a head. He crashes his lips against Sasuke’s in a kiss with too much teeth, presses close to him as if on instinct. When he pulls back, breath ragged as his forehead presses against Sasuke’s, grip in his hair only tightening.

“Do you get it _ now _ ?” Naruto’s voice is raw, brows furrowing painfully. “ _ Sasuke _.”

“Shut up,” Sasuke says. “Shut the hell up.” 

He grabs Naruto’s face, and kisses him back, with fervor, and anger, and just as much desperation. Kissing him so hard that Naruto can feel his lips start to ache with the pressure of it. Sasuke reaches up, tugging on Naruto’s hair, pulling his head back to leave hard, bruising kisses down the corner of his mouth, his jaw, his neck, pulling out soft gasps out of Naruto, clawing his desire right out of his chest. 

“God _ damn _you, Naruto,” Sasuke breathes, right against Naruto’s neck. “What the hell are you trying to do?”

Sasuke’s hot breath against the sensitive skin of Naruto’s neck raises prickly goosebumps. He’s clutching at Sasuke’s arm, fingers digging into his flesh. “I’m trying to show you...” he breathes out. Naruto shifts, one leg swooping over so he’s now straddling Sasuke, careful not to press against his wounds. “Show you what you mean to me.” A shaky breath leaves past the fox-like grin on his face, staring him down with a tantalizing gaze. “Are you going to kiss me again?”

“I’m going to do more than kiss you,” Sasuke says, and he grabs the back of Naruto’s neck, pulling his head down for another kiss, this one more aggressive and passionate, as he pants into Naruto’s mouth, his other hand going right for the front of Naruto’s pants, trying to tug them off. There’s no warning, nothing slow at all about Sasuke’s movements. Sasuke’s hand is clumsy, and Naruto can feel Sasuke’s arousal pressing right up against his thigh and—

“_ Move _,” Sasuke half-begs, half-commands. He lifts his hips, or tries to, grinding up against Naruto with the sort of desperation that Naruto would never expect out of Sasuke. 

He doesn’t need to be told a second time. Naruto rolls his hips downwards and gasps against Sasuke’s mouth, at how good the little bit of friction is and already wants more, always wanting when it comes to Sasuke. His fingers are shaking as he unbuttons his pants, grunting from how slow the process is, until he’s able to shove the fabric down his thighs, only the cloth of his underwear covering him, and then he’s on Sasuke again, grinding his hips down against Sasuke’s dick with a fervor to it he can’t hold back anymore. All the blood rushes from his head towards his dick, and he knows Sasuke can feel him just like Naruto can feel Sasuke’s. A bead of sweat’s already sliding down his temple. 

“Like this?” Naruto grunts out, mouth hot and nipping at the skin of Sasuke’s neck, the meat of his shoulder. He can’t stop touching him once he’s started. “More?”

Sasuke’s answer isn’t any sentence. It’s him pushing his hand down Naruto’s underwear, pulling it down, until Naruto’s cock is in Sasuke’s hand, and Sasuke grips him, right down to the very base, and gives him one, long dry stroke. He takes his hand away and spits into it, and without even looking away from Naruto, he strokes him again, and this time the glide is so much slicker, so much _ better _ that Naruto can’t help the moan that makes its way out of him.

“_ More _?” Sasuke repeats back at him. Mocking. 

“Asshole,” he says, breathless, the only heat to his words from pleasure than anything else. The tone of Sasuke’s voice has him bucking his hips into his hand, head swimming too fast to feel any embarrassment in how much he wants. “Yeah, more. I want more.”

It’s then Naruto’s dull nails drag against Sasuke’s chest, careful to avoid the wound on his side and getting in the way of Sasuke’s grip on him, and attempts to undo the button of Sasuke’s pants—wants to see and feel all of him. At this angle, he struggles more than he likes to admit, but finally, finally, Sasuke’s free from the confines of his pants and underwear and Naruto follows Sasuke’s lead, spits into the palm of his hand, and wraps his fingers around him and slides down the length of him, wanting to make Sasuke feel as good as he does. His elbow knocks against Sasuke’s arm that’s gripping him, and Naruto moves to press his nose into Sasuke’s cheek, breath hot against the shell of Sasuke’s ear.

“At the same time, hm?” Naruto mumbles, kisses and nips at the soft skin just underneath the shell of his ear until the beginnings of a bruise shows. A sign he’s been here, a semi-permanent reminder of his presence. “What do you say, Sasuke?”

Sasuke doesn’t answer, not immediately. He drags his hand down again, and then pulls up, and squeezes Naruto, his thumb pressing down at the slit of Naruto’s cock and Naruto is just weak for it, pressing his mouth on Sasuke’s neck to keep from moaning.

“The same time,” Sasuke says, his voice shaking with effort. He moves his hand again, and that motion has Naruto groaning. “Come on. Move, _ idiot _.” 

Naruto moves like Sasuke tells him. With his hips grinding into Sasuke’s hand, his hand working up and down the length of Sasuke’s dick in his hand even after his ache begins to ache with the angle of doing this for someone else instead of himself. All of his senses are tuned in on Sasuke—the sounds of his breath hitching in his throat, the heat of his body pressed against Naruto, and even the smell of sweat and whiskey from his skin, and Naruto makes no motion to stop himself when he darts out and traces the vein of Sasuke’s neck with his tongue. He twists his wrist accidentally, but from the way Sasuke finally makes a sound in the back of his throat and twitches underneath Naruto, he only smirks and does it again. 

When Naruto had allowed himself to think of Sasuke and him like this, he’s always imagined taking his time with Sasuke. Taking the time to learn what he liked, what made his body tremble. This is more intense, more ravenous and rough than anything he’s ever thought of. Heat’s already pooling in the pit of his belly, and he knows this will be over too soon, but he can’t slow down. Not now. 

“Sasuke,” he moans against the underside of his jaw, and plants heated kisses along the side of his face. He wants to see his eyes. “Look at me. I—” A hitch of his breath cuts him off. “_ Shit _, I can’t think—”

“Stop talking,” Sasuke growls. “Just—stop.” Naruto can feel him twitching, and Sasuke’s hand is rough and calloused and so fucking warm and good, and he goes faster, harder, not stopping to let Naruto catch his own breath. He moves his hand in a way that’s too hard and too tender at the same time, twisting his fingers and pushing and pulling and squeezing, his hand only going faster and faster and growing more frantic that Naruto just blindly mimics Sasuke. 

It doesn’t take long after that. Naruto’s lost in the sensations, the blinding heat sending shocks through his body and making his toes curl in his shoes, and he’s chasing Sasuke’s movements higher and higher, never yielding on his movements on Sasuke. The noises spilling from his mouth only coming further, more high-pitched, until there’s no longer any air in his lungs. His entire body stills, and he crashes his mouth against Sasuke’s again as the tremble rocks from his legs throughout the rest of his body and his hand braces out to the wall right by Sasuke’s head, the only reason he’s not collapsing in a heap on top of him. The wave of pleasure leaves him panting for breath, his body twitching long after his release. 

Naruto turns the kiss from the rough class of teeth and pressure only seconds ago into something softer, his body limp and sweaty, almost floaty in the aftermath. He’s about to cup Sasuke’s face with the hand not supporting his weight, and realizes somewhat smugly he’s gotta wipe his palm from the mess Sasuke left for him. Once he wipes it off on his pants, he’s cradling Sasuke’s jaw, his thumb smoothing over taut skin of his jawline, deepening the kiss.

Part of Naruto is bitter he didn’t get to see Sasuke’s face once he tipped over the edge. He’ll make it a priority next time.

For a moment, the only sound in the cave is of their heavy breathing. Naruto’s face is pressed into Sasuke’s neck, the smell of sweat and their mess causing his stomach to swoop pathetically. He presses another kiss to where he’s left a pretty significant hickey and grins at the sharp inhale Sasuke makes when Naruto drags his teeth over it. Sasuke in retaliation gives another slow tug on his softening dick, the sensitivity eliciting a high-pitched whine from Naruto as he bows his head. 

“I don’t think I can go again tonight,” Naruto mumbles, disappointingly, against Sasuke’s skin and pulls back to yawn, long and languid. All previous energy he had is draining from him at a rapid pace. When he finally takes a look at Sasuke, he can see the blown-out look on Sasuke’s face, sated and warm, the way his eyes look almost black from how much his pupils are dilated, the pink flush of his cheeks. “But when you’re looking like that, it really makes me wish I could.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes, fondness in every inch of his expression. “You just say whatever the hell first pops into your mind, don’t you?”

“Mhm,” he hums in response, and with shaky legs, moves from straddling him to sitting next to him, close enough for their bodies to be pressed together. Naruto misses the warmth. Lazily, he grabs one of their discarded garments and wipes himself clean, then Sasuke, before tossing it back into the direction where the rest of their clothes lay haphazardly. “Bet you like it, though.”

“I don’t hate it.” Sasuke shifts, carefully, until he’s laying flat on his back on the ground. It takes him a while to get comfortable, face twitching in pain until he does, and finally, he looks at peace again. When he glances up at Naruto through those dark lashes of his, warmth spreads from his cheeks to the soles of his feet, engulfing him. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to sleep?” There’s a flicker of some emotion on Sasuke’s face before he extends an arm out, as if he’s questioning whether or not he can have Naruto in his arms. He must’ve figured if he could have Naruto panting and coming in his hold, he could have this with him too. “Or are you just going to be a creep and stare at me all night?”

Naruto follows suit, settles down until he’s tucked completely against Sasuke’s side, arm slung over his rib cage. When Sasuke’s fingers slowly move through his hair, massaging at the base of his skull, the weight of his eyelids becomes unbearable. “I’m exhausted, but I don’t wanna go to sleep.”

“Why’s that?” Sasuke asks, sleep edging into each word. 

“I’ve finally got you all to myself.” Naruto against the cloth of his shirt. He can’t keep his eyes open anymore. “Don’t wanna waste it. Tomorrow we’ve gotta deal with people again when I take you to the doctor’s and it’s just—”

The hand in Naruto’s hair stills only for a moment, but Naruto makes a small noise of protest in the base of his throat and then Sasuke’s fingers are moving again with a gentleness that makes Naruto feel as if his heart were about to burst. “Sh, stop talking,” Sasuke hushes, voice soft in a way it hasn’t been for years now. “Enjoy this for right now.”

And he’s too tired to question the words _right now._ Naruto allows himself this moment of peace after all these years of running and chasing, lulls himself to sleep to the sound of Sasuke’s beating heart, strong and rhythmic.

It’s been a long time since he’s fallen asleep this easy.

  


***

  


Sakura’s still reeling from the firefight. It’s a miracle she managed to escape alive.

Much to her surprise, Sasuke and his gang had been expecting her. Now the entire mission was compromised and it was up to her to rescue her _ stupid _ best friend’s ass. 

The last thing she remembers before everything went hazy and the world turned into a blaze of gunfire and rain and screaming had been Naruto on the back of Sasuke’s horse and he and the rest of the gang fled deeper into the forest. All she could do was stare as her best friend was swallowed into the darkness. It’s not like she could follow them, not without proper lighting to see where the hell she was going—the gang seemed to have more intimate knowledge of the area than she did, a side effect of growing too comfortable in Konoha for all these years coming back to screw her over in the worst way. 

Sakura only came to make sure Naruto didn’t get himself killed. Any rational part of his brain shut down at the prospect of Sasuke. She knew if it came down to it, Naruto wouldn’t hesitate to lay down his life for Sasuke—he’d proved it time and time again every time he left her and the rest of their friends behind in Konoha to continue this endless drive to capture him, to bring him home—and she _ still _failed.

All she can do now is head back toward the nearest town, patch herself up, and set off as soon as the storm breaks. 

“If he dies,” Sakura mutters darkly, a promise, “I’ll kill you myself, Sasuke.”

  


***  


It’s the snoring that wakes Sasuke. 

For the briefest of moments, he thinks he’s back at camp and the loud breathing belongs to either Sengietsu, Karin, or Juugo waking him up as they’ve done for hundred of mornings together, and for an instant, the night before had only been a nightmare—until he moves to sit up and the pain radiating from his side makes him go dizzy, vision blurring and realizes he’s not even made an inch off the ground. 

The starkest reminder is currently snoring and drooling on his chest. 

Sometime during the night, Naruto must’ve ended up here, face press against the uninjured side of his body. Like this, eyes close and face soft, he looks younger, more peaceful. He remembers, vaguely, of having a conversation with Naruto, sharing the last of his whiskey, the feeling of Naruto’s fingertips tracing the scars lining his body and how he had taken Naruto’s wrist into his own hand and guided him. How Naruto’s mouth tasted of whiskey, the heat of his breath leaving goosebumps against Sasuke’s skin, the noises and strangled sound of his own name in Naruto’s voice he knows will haunt him. There was that familiar intensity Naruto held in his eyes that caught Sasuke’s attention over and over again, ever since they were kids. 

Being around Naruto again has its own dangers. Naruto has always had that magnetic pull that made Sasuke drawn to him, a power to him that weakens Sasuke’s resolve, makes him careless with his choices and causes his body to move without any command from his mind. He won’t kid himself otherwise. If he hadn’t decided to keep Naruto alive, he wouldn’t have been shot—that’s a fact.

This close, Sasuke’s fighting every urge in his body to trace the shape of his jaw with his fingertips, to push the blonde hair out of Naruto’s face in order to get a better look. His hand is already outstretched towards him, to touch, before he yanks it back as if the mere act of touching Naruto could burn him, and places his clasped fist firmly on the cool rock below him.

He needs to get out of here. Now. Get back to Taka. Put as much distance between him and Naruto before Sasuke does anything as stupid and reckless as he did last night. 

If he stays, Naruto will drag him back to Konoha without a doubt. And that goes against plans Sasuke is nowhere close to finishing yet. Not while Itachi is out there, somewhere, still breathing. 

Slowly, Sasuke shifts from underneath Naruto’s weight, gritting his teeth as the movement reared the pain in his side from its tolerable ache. It takes him a few moments to successfully pull himself away, careful not to wake him as the other settled against the bare cave floor instead of on him. Sasuke ignores the goosebumps forming along his skin at the sudden lack of Naruto’s body heat, and shivers as air hits his bare chest. It’s still early, if he travels further west he can make it to the designated meeting place in less than two days, if he’s quick about it.

If this is the last time he sees Naruto, he allows himself this brief moment of weakness and takes him in. Memorize the sharp planes of his shoulder blades, the muscles lining his back, and how the finger shaped bruises on his hips and bites along the expanse of his neck Sasuke had left behind in the heat of the moment shift against his skin against the subtle movements of Naruto’s breaths. Not for the first time in his life, Sasuke lets himself have this—this shadow of what their lives could’ve been like had it not been for Orochimaru interfering, in another world, another time. It’s a cruel irony that he gets to have this part of Naruto when it’s already too late for either of them. 

Sunlight has finally reached its way into the cave, the last of dawn finally retreating. There’s no more time for dwelling. He tears his gaze away from Naruto and searches for the shirt he’d thrown off somewhere in a frenzy, and pulls it over himself, buttons it up slowly. It takes Sasuke a few good moments until he’s able to stand, hissing with the effort of it until he finally maintains his own weight on the soles of his feet, and walks out towards the mouth of the cave. The reality of daybreak crashes over him.

Outside, his horse waits for him, tied to a slab of rock Naruto must’ve done before Sasuke regained consciousness. After he unties the horse, he uses all his strength to mount the saddle with only a hitch of his breath. 

He glances back to where Naruto is sleeping soundly, still so naive, and completely unaware of everything Sasuke is now. 

Then with a subtle kick of his boot against the back of his horse, and it takes off deeper into the forest and towards the town he and Taka agreed to meet in case of separation, as Naruto goes further and further behind him. 

  


***

  


By the time Naruto finally wakes, there’s the familiar grogginess within every inch of his body anytime he overslept and his insides twist at the realization. He never liked when he slept in too late—it felt more like a waste when there had always been so much to do when the daylight always seemed so short in comparison.

This time he’ll make an exception. If anything it was Sasuke’s fault he had slept in so late anyway. 

“Sasuke, we should get going before it gets too late,” Naruto mumbles into his own arm, the non-injured one, using it as a makeshift pillow. He yawns as he attempts to stretch his legs, eyes closed. “Or else it’s gonna take us more than a day to get back to town and find you a doctor.”

There’s no response, just the echo of his voice bouncing along the cave walls, there’s a sudden sinking in the pit of his stomach. A shiver runs through him from the chill stillness of the air surrounding him. It’s quiet. He sits up a little too fast, hands reaching out to grab at the air where Sasuke should have been.

_No_, _no, no, _he repeats in his head like a mantra as he pulls up and buttons his pants, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder. Sasuke couldn’t have just left him here._ Not after last night, not after we_—

“Sasuke!” he yells, eyes burning as he rushes out towards the light. “Sasuke, answer me!”

Outside the sun hangs overhead, mocking him as Naruto realizes morning has long already passed from the golden rays peering through the leaves. Sasuke and his horse nowhere to be seen.

Naruto really was the biggest idiot. 

He’d foolishly let his guard down. Somehow he believed that after he found Sasuke and with everything they talked about, everything they did _ together _, had meant Naruto had finally gotten through to him. How naive he was to think Sasuke would give up his chase for Itachi simply because Naruto had laid everything bare to him. Why did he ever think that would have been enough to make Sasuke stay? 

As long as Itachi lives, Sasuke would never stop hunting him. Naruto _ knew _that and he still had fooled himself into believing otherwise. 

A clenched fist strikes the bark of a tree. Naruto’s body is shaking too hard for him to care his knuckles are bleeding, or for the splinters poking out of his skin. Who knows how long of a headstart Sasuke had while Naruto had been sleeping? Even if he were to drop everything and track him this instant, Sasuke already had the headstart and the speed of his horse to his favor, and when the sun set, Naruto would have to stop his search. Just like that Sasuke would slip from his fingers, no telling how long it’d take before he saw him again. Weeks, maybe. Months. Years. If Sasuke lived that long anyway. 

Maybe Naruto was going about this all wrong. As Sasuke had pointed out the night before, he wasn’t running away from Naruto—he was running towards a destination, a person. If Naruto could find that person, it’d lead him right to Sasuke. 

All he has is a name of a town Sasuke had yelled for the rest of his gang to meet at in case they were separated. It wasn’t much of a lead, but Naruto’s worked with less in the past. 

Sasuke’s never been one to make it easy on him after all. 


	2. give me the burden

Three months pass by, uneventful, since Sasuke’s last encounter with Naruto. 

The memory of Naruto is less defined in his mind’s eye at this point, though not nearly as much as he would’ve liked. In the beginning, if he wasn’t careful, didn’t watch himself when his mind had decided to drift, deep blue eyes return to him, the smell of whiskey and the taste of salt on his tongue fills his senses faster than he can stop himself. Now when Naruto occasionally pops into his mind, there’s only a sharp pang that shoots at his side, right along where the new scar is embedded in his side.

A vast improvement by far, but not enough.

After he left Naruto behind in the cave, it had taken Sasuke nearly three days to reunite with the rest of Taka. Luckily no one else besides him had been seriously hurt in the ambush, but that didn’t mean much if they didn’t get Sasuke to a doctor for the rain and cold had left him with the beginnings of an infection, just as Naruto had predicted. By the time they made it to a doctor who’d take him, the strength had all but left him, instead an ache and fever had taken its place. For at least a week, it had been touch and go for him, the pain and deliriousness of reaching a point where Sasuke swore Itachi and Naruto had been in the same room as him, having a conversation he could no longer remember. 

Once the fever broke, Sasuke allowed himself only a few more days of rest before departing the small town and continued to head west. 

A part of him wondered, briefly, if Naruto would catch up with them again, and what Sasuke would do in case that happened. The thought of seeing him again had left Sasuke’s chest uncomfortably tight, along with the phantom pain of his scar flaring the more he thought of the possibility. As the days slowly turned into weeks with no mention of Naruto, eventually the discomfort edged away. 

Sasuke never came up with a plan, and now, he appeared to have no reason to after losing Naruto for good. The guilt would eventually leave his mind too.

Currently, he’s sat in the corner of one of the more rowdy saloons Sasuke’s ever set foot in. This town they had arrived at only a day prior was infested with drifters, criminals, and fugitive alike—all gravitating toward this watering hole of a place instead. Small towns like these meant less authority, so of course the worst of the worst would find themselves here. More of a pit-stop for most than an actual place to lay one’s head, unless they had the keen idea to keep both eyes open. It’s not like Sasuke was planning to make a home here. Far from it, actually. What he came to this shithole for was information on Itachi, and then he’d be off as soon as he got what he needed. 

Tonight he had a meeting arranged with the informant by the bartender, but he’s been waiting for at least the better part of an hour now. He clenches his jaw as he takes another glance of Suigetsu and Juugo at the bar swigging their mugs of beer down their throats and sighs, Karin nowhere in sight. This always happens every time they stepped into a saloon, the three of them running off like chickens with their heads cut off at the sight of alcohol. At least _he _still remained sharp. 

“How long do we have to wait?” Karin’s voice comes from behind him, right against the shell of his ear. Of course she does the moment Sasuke criticizes her in his mind. Alcohol reeks from her breath. “I’ve gotta take a piss.”

“Just go.” Sasuke sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to tell me about every thought that crosses your mind, mostly because I don’t want to hear it.” Karin’s not the reason why he’s so frustrated, but she’s certainly not helping either.

“You should appreciate the stuff I tell you, ungrateful bastard,” she retorts, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly. “Something about all of this feels _strange _—” her arms gesture towards the entirety of the saloon—”The waiting, I mean. Even the people here feel funny, like they’re in on something we don’t know. This whole thing’s starting to smell like shit, Sasuke.”

Truth is, Sasuke doesn’t disagree with her. He’s noticed ever since they first stepped into the saloon—the subtle change of volume in the bar, the way not even the bartender offered a word to him as he walked bar towards the back. A couple days after he’d recovered, he finally had a chance to look through the belongings they still had of Naruto’s, and he’d found it—crumpled and the ink smudged from the rain—was a wanted poster with his face on it and a hefty new price along with the knowledge of how Naruto had managed to find him. Apparently the courier he spared the few days before lived close to his hometown, close enough to print out the last location Jugo had accidentally uttered aloud before they split with the man’s money. 

Anyone of these bastards could try making an attempt on them because of Sasuke’s current bounty. Sasuke knew his skill, but even he would give fighting off an entire town a second thought, lest he adds this one to the ever-growing list of places who wanted him dead, Konoha earning its rightful place at the top with their never ending persistence. 

“Let the other two know we’ll be heading out soon,” Sasuke says behind his glass of whiskey, the same one he’s only taken a sip out of twice—sharp as ever. He’ll have to take some for the road. “_ Discreetly _. And tell Suigetsu to grab the bottle of whiskey, I like this one.”

“Lazy ass.”

Once they disperse, Sasuke stands from his booth and makes his way towards the parting doors of the entrance. As soon as he pushes himself out, the sharp, cold air attacks without much warning. He stuffs his hands into the coat of his jacket, bundles himself close. Winter is quickly approaching, much to his annoyance.

He only makes it a few steps out before an all familiar voice catches his attention.

“Hey, Sasuke.”

Sasuke snaps his head towards Naruto, and barely has time to react at the fact the other man’s standing before him before a curled fist collides with his jaw. It has Sasuke staggering on his feet, clutching his jaw as it throbs painfully underneath his pressed hand. When he finally manages to put all his energy onto focusing on Naruto, he’s simply standing there, arms crossed over his chest with a deep frown on his face.

Of course Naruto’s still chasing after him. If anything else, the last time they saw each other probably had only left Naruto with more incentive to hunt him down. What_ great _foresight on Sasuke’s part. 

Two pointed revolvers click into focus, right underneath Naruto’s chin, forcing him to tilt his head up, though he makes no move from his indignant pose. From behind, Karin chuckles as she glances over Naruto’s shoulder toward Sasuke—obviously pleased with herself. Sasuke tears his gaze away from Naruto’s burning eyes, tries to focus solely on her. “What the hell did you do to piss this guy off? Second time this one’s tried to get you in.”

Sasuke ignores her question, and can’t help the way his gaze finds its way back to Naruto. “You didn’t really think you’d get that far with just a punch, did you?”

A sharp grin spreads across Naruto’s face, and the sight of how dangerous he looks before him does something funny to Sasuke’s stomach. Sasuke purposefully keeps his face neutral as Naruto speaks. “Of course not, stupid. I’ve just been itching to punch your stupid face for the past couple of months, saw an opportunity, and took it.”

“Are you finally going to kill this guy or what, Sasuke?” Karin asks, the muzzle still firmly placed underneath Naruto’s jaw. “Or do you want me to? Since you seem to have trouble with it twice now.”

His mouth’s already open to dismiss her when Naruto cuts him off, smugly, and says, “You’re not going to do that.”

Sasuke’s throat goes dry. “Why not?”

“Because I know where Itachi’s at, shithead.”

Everything comes together in that moment.

“Were you the one the bartender scheduled for me to meet?” Sasuke asks in disbelief. “Don’t bullshit me.”

“Yeah,” Naruto says in an easy voice. “Sorry I ran a little late.”

Anger flares as Sasuke stares at him, trying to gauge Naruto’s expression, the lack of care he has with two pistols pressed against him by a trigger-happy woman. He’s not sure what he’s more pissed about: the fact Naruto contrived all of this to get to Sasuke or how little he values his own life in the face of death.

Sasuke decides to focus his anger on the former. “Did you lie about information on Itachi in order to get me here, Naruto? Answer me. _Now _.”

Naruto has the gall to look offended. “No, asshole. I didn’t lie. I spent the last three months drilling everybody I came across about Itachi and managed to find something out in order to get you back here, and it worked too. Turns out my plans aren’t always shitty.”

“Tell me where he is, Naruto,” Sasuke says darkly. “I _need _to know where he is.”

“Not so fast.” Naruto glances at the two guns pointed right at him before he asks, “Can you call off your lackey?”

All Sasuke has to do is send Karin a look, and with a disappointed sigh she holsters the two pistols back into her holsters and makes her way back to Sasuke’s side, already looking bored and dejected at the fact she didn’t get to shoot anyone’s brains out today. He doesn’t care, all he cares about is focusing on figuring out where Itachi’s at.

“Go on,” he says, staring right at Naruto, unblinking. “Unless you’re bullshitting me.”

“I’m not bullshitting you, I know where he is.” There’s an earnestness in his eyes that makes Sasuke realize he’s telling the truth. Naruto’s never been the best liar because of how much those eyes give him away. “But I’m not going to tell you until you agree on me coming with you.”

Karin laughs from where she’s leaned against one of the posts of the saloon. “You already missed Sasuke picking members of his team, and we don’t want no bounty hunter sniffing around in any of our business, either.”

“Nobody’s talking to you,” Naruto snaps at her, anger burning within his eyes. When he glances at Sasuke, the anger only seems to grow in intensity. “I come along with you and I give you directions to where Itachi was last seen as we go. That’s your only option.”

“You can’t be serious about this guy, Sasuke,” Karin says. “Come on, let’s ditch him and get out of this shithole already.”

As much as Sasuke hates to admit, he knows Naruto’s stubbornness is unparalleled. If anyone could ever come close to spending as much time hunting Itachi down as him, it would be Naruto.

Whatever information Naruto has are probably just the missing details Sasuke’s been looking for.

“If I find out you lied to me about any of this, Naruto, I will never forgive you.” Sasuke doesn’t so much as blink as he utters the words to Naruto, and isn’t surprised when Naruto matches him, glaring back. “Don’t make me regret bringing you along.”

Naruto scoffs at him, and merely says, “Don’t make me regret telling you where Itachi is.”

Behind them, Suigetsu and Juugo stumble in, a few bottles of alcohol, including the whiskey Sasuke had asked for, in hand. It takes them a moment to gather the scene in front of them, the smile from Juugo disappearing, though Suigetsu’s merely morphs from drunken glee to a simple curiosity.

“This guy again?” Suigetsu asks. “I thought we ditched you back in the forest.”

“Bet you did,” Naruto replies, though he’s not looking at Suigetsu when he says the words, but at Sasuke. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Sasuke wants to sigh, or curse at the universe for making a mockery out of his life choices. Instead he merely says, “Naruto’s joining us as we hunt down Itachi. Let’s get out of here before they notice their booze has gone missing.”

Nobody says anything as they walk back to their horses, but he can feel Naruto’s eyes bearing into him the entire time back.

***

Sasuke assigns Naruto to cooking duty, and to be babysat by two out of three of his lackies, while he takes the other, Juugo, with him for a scouting mission. It’s almost flattering, the implication Sasuke thinks he’s formidable enough to require not just one but two bodyguards, if these two in particular weren’t so _annoying _.

Literally, every time they talk is like nails on a chalkboard. And Sasuke called _Naruto _annoying during grade school. Stupid lying jerk.

Each and every time his annoyance threshold reaches its peak is whenever the two of them talk about Sasuke. He grinds his jaw as he stirs the stupid stew furiously. If Naruto wasn’t also going to be eating this later tonight, he’d pick up some rocks and dirt and mix it in real nice.

“Yeah, Juugo and I were talking about it last night,” _Karin _is her name he thinks, the one with red hair and a hand splayed out on her hip. “Sasuke never mentioned anything to you either, hm?”

“Nope, not a peep,” Suigetsu replies with a _pop _of the ‘p’. Then he glances back towards the direction where Naruto’s sat looking over the stew, making it obvious just who they’re talking about. “From the looks of it though, he’s obsessed with our Sasuke. Who knows, maybe Sasuke’s got a habit of making dumb little boys fall for him.” In a much louder voice, he calls out, “Isn’t that right, Naruto?

Naruto’s face is on fire, the glare he’s shooting towards Suigetsu palpable. In the distance he can hear Karin laughing at him, but his focus remains on the stupid smirk plastered on this idiot’s face.

“‘Our Sasuke’,” Naruto spits the words out, already marching his way over to where the two of them are sat. “He’s not yours, so get that through your idiot brain now.”

“Whose is he then, huh?” The smirk on Suigetsu’s face doesn’t falter. “Because he’s certainly not yours either.”

“Sasuke is Sasuke, he doesn’t belong to anyone.” As he utters those words, Naruto crosses his arms over his chest, looking pointedly away from the two. “I know him better than any of you assholes anyway, but you should at least know that much.”

Karin raises a brow, a bark of a laugh escaping her. “How do you figure that, huh? We’ve been with him all these years while you were chasing after him like a kicked puppy who doesn’t know when to stay away.”

“You may have met Sasuke first when you two were kiddies, but we know the _real _Sasuke,” Suigetsu responds, point blank. “The only reason you’re here now is because you know where Itachi’s at. Don’t get comfortable just because the boss is being generous and letting you roam around as you please.”

Naruto’s hands are balled into fists, itching to meet that smug mouth of his. He knows the two of them are trying to get under his skin, but there’s a certain shade of truth to their words even Naruto can’t ignore, can’t will away. The fact of the matter is knowing where Itachi’s location is the only reason Sasuke hadn’t ditched him again, and truth of it stung.

However there’s no way in hell Naruto would ever let these sons of bitches know they’ve gotten to him.

“Watch your big mouth, Suigetsu,” Naruto warns, glaring at Suigetsu with a look of contempt. “Before I make you wish you had.”

“Oh, you hear that, Karin? The brat’s threatening me!”

“How cute,” Karin replies, already losing interest. “Wish you two would hit each other already.”

“No one’s hitting each other. Yet,” Sasuke’s voice rings through the air, riding up on the three of them on his horse. Behind him Juugo follows after, dismounting his horse and attaching the reins to their makeshift post. “It’s only been an hour and already the three of you are making trouble. Impressive.”

Naruto scoffs, folding his arms over his chest. “Suigetsu started it.”

Sasuke dismounts from his horse and hands the reins over to Juugo, who ties Sasuke’s horse along with his. Then he walks slowly over towards Naruto, eyes locked on him with an intensity that simultaneously makes his stomach twist and his face harden, hoping to everything that’s holy he’s not giving himself away. 

Looking Naruto up and down, it’s impossible to tell if what Sasuke finds at what he sees is something good or bad. Sasuke’s face remains perfectly neutral. The only indication he allows to break free is the little _hmph _that leaves past his lips.

“You sound like a child, Naruto,” Sasuke says. Then he leans close, his dark hair brushing against the skin of Naruto’s cheek, his warm breath ghosting along the shell of his ear. He can feel the smirk on Sasuke’s lips. Naruto can’t help the shiver that runs down his spine. “Don’t tell me you expect me to fight all your battles for you.”

The bastard knows what he’s doing, and the fact Sasuke’s pulling this shit in front of his lackies makes Naruto all the more frustrated. It should be Naruto making Sasuke uncomfortable, not the other way around. _What the hell _.

“Shut up,” Naruto manages, frowning despite the way his heart’s threatening to beat out of his chest. “You’re pissing me off. All of you are pissing me off.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll beat your ass,” Naruto retorts. “Wipe that stupid smirk off your face. Pummel you. Show you how much you piss me off.”

Sasuke lets out a huff of breath that’s as close to a laugh as he’d manage, pulling back and away from him, taking the warmth away with him. Away from him, the smirk drops from Sasuke’s face, and there’s a cool expression that takes over, carefully emotionless. Naruto realizes he hates this expression much more.

“Fight me,” says Sasuke. “Enough with your talk.”

“What?” Naruto asks, but his hands are already balled into fists, already expecting for Sasuke to throw the first punch. “Now?”

“Of course now, idiot!” Suigetsu calls from the side, followed by Karin’s bubbly laughter. “What other time is there?”

“Ignore them, Naruto. Focus on me,” Sasuke says, and Naruto’s gaze follows the sound of his voice. It’s impossible to focus on anything other than Sasuke. “Look over in the west, towards the mountain range and _listen _to what I’m about to tell you for once in your goddamn life.”

Hesitantly, Naruto turns his head in the direction of the mountain rage, a few miles in the distance. Snow has already begun to cover the peaks due to the quickly approaching winter. Never in his life did Naruto expect to have gone this far off from Konoha, but here he is, as if on the edge of the world.

When Naruto turns his head back to Sasuke, there’s a grave expression on his face. “All five of us are about to cut through the mountains in order to make it to where Itachi’s hiding, if the information you told me is reliable.”

“It is,” Naruto cuts in, narrowing his gaze. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Sasuke.”

Sasuke ignores him, and continues, “What Juugo and I gathered from the locals during our scouting mission, that’s about one of the most dangerous passes in order to make it to wherever the hell Itachi's at. In order for all of us to survive, we’re all going to have to work together. Every one of us.” At this, he directs his attention towards Suigetsu and Karin, who no longer have the comedic expressions on their faces as they did earlier. Naruto can’t help the smugness flowing through him. “That includes you, Naruto. So if you have a problem, get it out now and fight me.”

For a moment, Naruto can only stare at Sasuke in disbelief. He takes a step closer to where Sasuke stands tall, bridging the space between them. Not even breaking the contact in order to blink, Naruto wants Sasuke to see the righteous anger in his eyes.

“You used to call me clueless all the fucking time when we were kids, but you’re the clueless one,” Naruto says slowly, poking a finger right into the center of Sasuke’s chest. “Don’t talk to me like I’m the stupid one here. I’ve already _told _you what I wanted, and it isn’t to fight you, Sasuke, you absolute shit for brains.”

The look on Sasuke’s face is impossible to decipher and Naruto can’t stand it—this wall Sasuke puts between them like they’re strangers rather than friends. More than friends after the night they spent together in that damn cave all those months ago, if he’s being honest with himself. But hell, maybe Naruto was wrong about all of that. 

Maybe Suigetsu and Karin had a point from earlier. Even if Naruto did see shades of the old Sasuke he remembers when he’s with him, this man before him has changed in their years apart from one another. 

Naruto knows he’d do anything for Sasuke, travel through heaven and hell, give down his own life, in the chance of bringing Sasuke back to him. The only problem is he’s beginning to have trouble deciphering which Sasuke he’s doing this all for, if he’s even there anymore, or if he’s been completely engulfed by this stranger standing in front of him. 

Just as quickly as the thought enters his mind, the self-loathing he feels for himself overwhelms Naruto. If he doubts Sasuke now, everything he’s fought so hard for will all be for nothing.

As angry as he is, he knows he needs to step away. Catch his breath and clear his head after he gives Sasuke a piece of his mind. 

“You know what, forget this,” Naruto mutters, glaring into those dark eyes with every ounce of anger and frustration building and building for all these months, finally getting to throw it at the source. “Figure out what it is _you _want from _me _and then come find me. I can’t fucking talk to you when you’re like this.”

When Naruto turns away from Sasuke, from the elongated _ oo _ ’s and _ ah’ _s from the rest of his stupid crew as if they’ve all been transported back to grade school, he doesn’t look back. Not even when he feels Sasuke’s eyes cutting holes into him, not even when every urge in his body is telling him to turn around.

  


***

After the others have turned their oil lamps off, Sasuke finds sleep impossible due to Naruto’s presence in the camp. Not because of how loud and rambunctious Naruto could be, but because of how silent dinner had been after he holed himself up in his tent. The spot in his jaw Naruto had punched a few days earlier sprang awake if he thought too hard about, well, everything that’s happened between them. 

Sasuke doesn’t like dealing with feelings. Even anger was secondary to him in comparison to the cold hatred he had turned himself into after he left Konoha. Emotions can distract or slow him down, keep him from being efficient in his singular goal of killing Itachi. 

One day. It had taken _one _day for Naruto to tear down his convictions and cause him to fall apart. All those years he’d spent building up those foundations of hatred, layer by layer until that’s all he was, all he allowed himself to be, and Naruto had caused all of it to crack. Now it’s crumbling right before his eyes.

Naruto was someone Sasuke could not guard himself against and the terror it brings only rivals to how much the fact infuriates him. The best thing he can do is try to ignore him, but the idiot makes it all but impossible.

He can’t stop thinking of Naruto in the tent next to his. Sasuke glares daggers up above, where only a sliver of moonlight shines through canopy.

It’s only because he can’t sleep does he decide to head to Naruto’s tent, at least, he convinces himself of that. Now that the sun has set, he can see the soft glow emanating from the still-lit lantern inside. Either Naruto’s still awake at this hour also or he’s about to burn the camp down. Whether it’s Naruto’s intention or him simply falling asleep without turning off the lantern, Sasuke can’t say for sure. 

He gets the answer when he pulls open his make-shift tent and sees Naruto about to walk out, eyes growing comically wide at the surprise appearance of Sasuke awkwardly standing at his doorway. Sasuke fought the urge to smirk.

“I was about to take a piss,” Naruto says. “Unless I need your permission or something now for that too, Mr. Boss-Man.”

“You’re not a prisoner, idiot,” he replies in a tired voice. Being around Naruto was draining in a way that a day of work and travelling couldn’t compare to. “You can leave anytime you want, though it’d be more convenient to me if you didn’t.”

Naruto scoffs, and Sasuke ignores the flash of hurt that crosses his face. It seems all he does is hurt him, and Naruto keeps coming back time and time again. Sasuke doesn’t understand that. “_ Convenient _, right,” he spits the word out like something awful, bitter and anger making his tone sharp. “Is that all I am to you? Was convenience what you were thinking of when you decided to jerk me off in that cave, huh? God, you’re so fucking annoying, Sasuke.”

_Lie _, he urges himself. _Avoid _. Anything other than give Naruto anymore reason to revolve himself around Sasuke.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Sasuke says, carefully picking out each word to avoid revealing too much. “Was just going to tell you to go to bed. We’ve got a long day of riding tomorrow and I don’t want you complaining the entire time.”

Naruto narrows his eyes. “I’m not one of your underlings who looks at you in order to figure out how to wipe my ass. I know how to take care of myself, been doing it for this long anyway. So, why are you really here?”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Sasuke replies, ignoring the question. “You look like shit.”

It’s the wrong thing to say in order to get on Naruto’s good side, the right thing to say to keep him at a distance while still being able to indulge in his presence, but it’s far from a lie. Clear as day, he remembers how tired Naruto looked when he last saw him, as if the years were weights holding him down. Now he looks plain exhausted. The dark circles under his puffy eyes are prominent and distracting, skin looking dull rather than the usual glow he held. 

Seeing Naruto like this was wrong, because this man in front of him is only a shell of what Naruto is. A pang of guilt shoots through him, sudden and overwhelming, but Sasuke’s quick to smother it down before it gets the chance to spread.

“Gee, thanks,” Naruto deadpans, giving Sasuke ample distraction away from the feeling pooling in his gut. “Anything else you got to say before I piss myself?”

Before Sasuke can convince himself it’s a terrible idea, he utters, “I’ll join you.”

For a moment, Naruto merely eyes him, as if scrutinizing his words to make sure there’s no trick. Once he’s satisfied, he jerks his head in the direction of a few bare bushes, more twigs than anything else, off in the distance of camp.

Together they walk silently away from the remaining sleeping members of Taka, and it’s not for the first time Sasuke realizes despite how quiet Naruto can be if he really wants to, there’s an undeniable intensity in the way he holds himself. He doesn’t need to speak a word in order for people to gravitate towards him, to get a sense of what he’s feeling. It doesn’t take a genius to realize when Naruto’s pissed when he wears his emotions on his sleeve for all to see. 

Sasuke’s never cared about others feelings or thoughts in regards to him. Except when it comes to Naruto, everything Sasuke had always believed to be a permanent facet of his being apparently has exceptions. 

“You deserve an explanation,” Sasuke says, eventually, just before they reach the bushes. “I understand that much.”

“Wow, congratulations,” Naruto replies bitterly. “You’ve achieved common sense.”

And the bastard stares at him, unblinking, as he unzips. Sasuke turns his head away in disgust before he could so much as glance at Naruto relieving himself, though he unfortunately cannot block out the sound. As always, never failing to get under Sasuke’s skin. 

“I didn’t want you following me.”

“Already figured that much when you left me high and dry without so much as a note, or a goodbye, or anything…” For the first time since he’s reunited with Naruto, the anger gives way to the pain in his voice. The pain Sasuke caused. When he finishes, he zips himself back up, and Sasuke can finally see the crinkle in his forehead, the downturned corners of his mouth. “Why not?”

“You know why.”

Naruto grunts in frustration, pushing past him as he returns to camp. “No, asshole, I don’t. That’s why I’m asking you here. I’ve only made some guesses, but I want a real answer from you.”

Trailing behind him, Sasuke sighs, partly due to the growing frustration of having to actually confront Naruto, partly due to the fact he’d rather be doing just about anything else right about now. He fixes his jacket, pulls it closer as the cool night air seeps into his bones. When they arrive, Naruto’s watching him as he pours from his canteen over his hands.

“The reason I left you behind in that cave is the same reason why I left you behind when Orochimaru’s gang rolled into town, Naruto,” Sasuke says. “Being around you makes me weak. Stupid, too. I nearly got myself killed taking a bullet for you because I wasn’t thinking straight. There’s no way I’d be able to take Itachi down if I brought you with me, distracting me.”

“Bullshit,” Naruto snaps back. “Maybe I was weak back then or whatever, but I’m stronger now, Sasuke. That’s no excuse for ditching me a second time and you know it.”

“You’re not understanding what I’m saying to you, Naruto.”

“Then explain it to me!” Naruto shouts. “Explain it to me so I can understand!”

“If you had gotten hurt or died,” Sasuke starts, brows pulled together in pain, “I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do what needed to be done in order to pursue Itachi the way I have.”

For a moment, Naruto stares at him, lips parted like a fish out of water. Then he takes a step closer to where Sasuke stands, and he makes no effort to back away. “So, what you’re saying is—”

“Yes,” Sasuke cuts off, because he can’t bear to hear the words uttered back to him in Naruto’s voice. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“You didn’t even actually admit to anything,” Naruto points out. “You’re just counting on the fact I know you too well. Asshole.”

“I’ve admitted to enough back in that cave, idiot. Don’t be so greedy.”

Again, Naruto takes another step closer to Sasuke, close enough where Sasuke can feel the warmth of Naruto’s body heat emanating off him like a furnace. There’s a darkness in his eyes that’s familiar, a want in them that has Sasuke swallow the lump in his throat, lick his dry lips as he stares into them. 

Sasuke’s got an inch on Naruto at least, but he’s still unprepared for the way his eyes linger on Naruto’s neck as he tilts his head up slightly, his warm breath ghosting against Sasuke’s lips. If only Sasuke leaned a little closer…

“When it comes to you, Sasuke, I don’t think I can ever stop wanting.” Naruto’s soft hair tickles the skin of Sasuke’s cheek, the bridge of his nose. “You’re a sinner’s worst nightmare, ya know.”

Just as Sasuke leans down in order to close the gap between them, eyes already half-lidded, Naruto pulls back and away until Sasuke’s kissing air. He snaps his eyes open, a flush of embarrassment washing over him as he realized he’s been caught doing the chasing this time around.

He wants to wipe Naruto’s stupid smirk off his face.

“That doesn’t mean I’m making it easy on you,” Naruto says, sounding smug as a look of delight flashes in those eyes of his. “You still haven’t told me what it is you want from me.”

“I was about to show you.”

“Bullshit,” Naruto remarks. “I want to hear the words come from your mouth, clearly. No way for me to misconstrue or misinterpret, because that’s what’ll happen if we think with our bodies instead of our brains again if you haven’t even gotten over that stupid idea in that brain of yours about me making you weak.”

Sasuke wants to argue with him, but in the end, he knows Naruto’s right. He’s not doing a service to either of them if he doesn’t make an attempt to think on what Naruto’s saying before jumping into this _thing _with Naruto headfirst.

As much as he hates it, he’s the one who’s been causing Naruto all this grief for all these years.

Giving Naruto a clear, concise answer is the least he deserves.

“You should hate me by now, but you don’t,” Sasuke says, shaking his head in disbelief. “Out of everyone, you should hate me the most.”

“I don’t hate you, Sasuke. You’re my best friend,” Naruto replies, plain and simple, without a shred of hesitation. “As far as negatives go, when I look at you, all I feel is this grief of all the time between us that’s been wasted, and I hate it. That’s all there is. ”

For the first time in his life, Sasuke can’t bear to look into Naruto’s eyes.

“Goodnight, Sasuke,” he says softly. “See you in the morning.”

The moment Naruto retreats into his tent, Sasuke can’t deny the fact he’s already missing his presence.

***

It takes less than a week before they reach the mountainside, and it’s as every bit as dangerous and deadly as Sasuke said it’d be. 

The first day on the climbing up the inclined slope, they nearly lose a horse and Juugo from plummeting into the forest below, Naruto barely just reaching out in time to gather his attention before the ice caved in underneath the weight. After that, Sasuke had deemed it necessary they remove themselves of extra weight due to the fact the newly formed ice was nowhere near thick enough to safely travel along, leaving them all with only two tents, a spare change of clothes, and enough food and water to last them through the journey. Even then, Naruto doubts if it’s enough to last through the mountain ridge at the slow pace they’re moving, Sasuke being careful to check any patch of ice he found suspicious.

As the dark of night bleeds into the sky and the light snowfall returns, there’s a unanimous agreement within the group of setting up camp. Dinner is spent around a campfire, the warmth from the flames welcomed.

“Naruto, where are we heading once we pass through the mountains?” Sasuke asks after finishing a bite of broth Juugo had cooked up, keeping the look of distaste to a minimum. “I want to make sure we have enough supplies until we reach the next town.”

“Kirigakure,” Naruto says after he swallows a mouthful of broth, ignoring the burn in his throat. “That’s the last place I’ve heard Itachi and his gang’s been seen. We’ll have to ask around with the locals, but the information’s fresh.”

Sasuke nods once, satisfied with the answer and doesn't question Naruto on the details, much to Naruto's surprise. Instead Sasuke focuses on finishing the last of his bowl before placing it back in his satchel to be washed later, probably after breakfast in the morning. “Alright, so hopefully if we ration our supplies, we’ll be able to make it last until we arrive at one of the small towns before we get to Kirigakure.”

“Great,” Karin says, rubbing her full belly. “Now can we all hit the sack? I’m tired and already know you’re going to be waking us up at the ass crack of dawn.”

“Sure,” Sasuke replies, already stomping out the small fire with his boots. “You, Suigetsu, and Juugo can take the tent on the left.”

It takes Naruto a few seconds to realize that only really leaves him and Sasuke in the other one. From the knowing gazes of the other three members of Taka bearing into him, they seem to have realized the implication of this set-up too. Naruto purposefully avoids their looks due to the way his cheeks are burning, unwilling to let it grow any worse.

“You really expect me to sleep next to these two mouthbreathers all night?” Karin asks, voice dripping in a whine. “They snore so fucking loud. It’s going to be hell.”

“I’m used to rooming with you anyway, Sasuke,” Suigetsu says with a teasing lilt in his voice. Naruto’s head snaps so fast only to meet Suigetsu’s smirk directed towards him, and the moment he realizes Suigetsu’s fucking with him, it’s already too late. Of course he fell right for it and gave himself away. “You replacing me with Naruto already?”

Juugo has the decency to merely chuckle to himself, already turning in for the night as he disappears into the tent. 

“Quit complaining,” Sasuke replies. “We all agreed to sharing tents when we were unloading all the extra weight. Deal with it.”

Apparently that’s all it takes for them to disperse back within their tent, Suigetsu laughing as Karin grumbles in complaint loudly for Sasuke to hear. In response, Sasuke merely rolls his eyes. They should be grateful the three have the bigger tent out of the two anyway.

Naruto can feel Sasuke’s gaze on him, and when he glances up to meet those dark eyes, Sasuke merely says, “You’re uncharacteristically quiet about all this. No complaints from you?”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to sleep with any of them anyway,” Naruto replies with a shrug he hopes comes off as casual. “You’re the better option by, like, this much.” For emphasis he brings his index and thumb close together, leaving only a sliver of space between them.

Sasuke merely lets out a huff of amusement at him, shaking his head before heading back into the tent. After a few seconds of staring after him, Naruto follows with a small smile plastered on his face.

The rest of the world fades away as soon as he steps within the tent. Inside is a little warmer than the chill air from outside, but the more he shifts to get to his side of the tent, he can already feel the budding sweat at his temple. Sometime before dinner Sasuke must’ve unloaded both of their sleeping bags and blankets, already expecting Naruto to sleep with him, considering the thought of where he was going to sleep only passed through his mind only a couple of minutes ago. 

As always, Sasuke is one step ahead of him. For the first time in his life, Naruto finds he isn’t annoyed by that.

Without so much as glancing at Naruto, Sasuke’s already pushing off his jacket and unlacing his boots, but Naruto knows Sasuke can feel Naruto staring at him from the occasional flicker of his eyes in Naruto’s direction, the little upward curl of the corner of his mouth. Naruto swallows hard before shaking his head, shedding off his jacket and kicking off his shoes without much care where it lands. Tempting as it is to kick off his pants, never caring to go to bed feeling anything other than free, Naruto decides against it. Especially considering his self control when it comes to Sasuke is anything but fragile.

Naruto slips under the covers quietly as Sasuke dims the lantern, not completely, just enough for the soft light to bounce off the sharp angles of his face where the shadows hasn’t taken over. Then Sasuke tugs off his jeans and before Naruto loses himself to staring, he purposefully focuses on the way the shadows of tree branches above them dances against the canvas.

Eventually there’s a soft thud as Sasuke’s weight finally falls next to him, shifting a bit before finally settling on a comfortable position. Naruto deems it safe to look at him then, stealing a glance only to see Sasuke’s eyes on him with an expression he can’t place. 

“You’re blushing like a school girl,” Sasuke says in a mix of disbelief and amusement. “Pathetic.”

“Shut up,” Naruto shoots back, feeling the warmth of his cheeks intensify. He’s already shoving Sasuke at the shoulder pointedly. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Funny thing is I’m not. I hate sleeping in jeans.”

“Mhm. Sure. Whatever you say.”

“Don’t believe me then.” Sasuke shrugs indifferently. “I’m not going to try anything with you other than sleep, Naruto.”

Naruto pauses for a brief moment. “You’re not?”

“Incredible.”

When Naruto turns his head back, Sasuke’s eyes are closed and there’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. There’s something about how he lays there without the weight of responsibility and leadership burdening him that makes Sasule look so incredibly soft. Reminds him of a younger Sasuke before everything had gone to shit. Part of him wants to keep him in this space, undisturbed, unbothered, if it means Sasuke can finally have some peace. Naruto has to fight the urge to reach out and brush Sasuke’s bangs out of his face, or letting his fingers drag along the edge of his jawline. 

Before Naruto can indulge any further, Sasuke’s voice cuts through the silence as he says, “I can hear you thinking.”

“Observant as always,” Naruto replies with a roll of his eyes, brings his gaze away from Sasuke and to the canvas above.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

When Naruto glances over at Sasuke, there’s a penny pinched between his two fingers. The snort that leaves past his lips is involuntary, but genuine. He holds his hand out, and Sasuke presses the cool coin into the palm of Naruto’s hand and waits expectantly as Naruto twirls the coin in between his fingers.

“Have you ever thought about what you’re going to do after you kill Itachi?” Naruto asks, eventually. Still not looking at Sasuke, instead focusing on the bronze instead. “You’re always the one who’s always a couple steps ahead of the game, so you must have some sort of idea.”

Sasuke goes quiet for a moment, before he eventually says, “For a long time, no.”

_That _catches Naruto’s attention.

“And now?”

“Now, I’m not so sure either,” Sasuke says softly, dark eyes trained on Naruto’s. “I always figured I’d end up dying after killing Itachi. Either from the final altercation, or some bounty hunter catching up to me, or my luck finally running out.”

Frowning as he listens to the words leaving Sasuke’s mouth, Naruto’s on the verge of protest, or arguing against him, but any words die in the base of his throat once he catches the way Sasuke’s looking at him, soft and wanting. The sight of it makes his mouth go dry.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want since that night you’ve asked me, Naruto.” 

Despite not wanting to let the hope in his chest grow any further, his heart skips a beat. 

“Uh,” Naruto says, tongue darting out to swipe at his chapped lips. “Come to any conclusions?”

“Whatever comes after Itachi, I want you there with me,” Sasuke says, voice dripping with a vulnerability and honesty Naruto’s didn’t know he was capable of. He had seen the same look once before, when they were tangled together all those nights ago in that damn cave, but it had been during a haze of want and emotions flooding the two of them that neither Naruto or Sasuke had complete control of. Giving himself away to Naruto so openly on purpose is a different beast entirely. “We deserve a better ending than the one I had planned out for the two of us.”

“Yeah, I’d say so, you stubborn asshole.” Naruto’s voice cracking a little at the insult despite himself, but he’s too happy to care about how ridiculous he may sound. “Finally got it through that head of yours.”

Sasuke huffs out a laugh. “I didn’t think I could have my revenge and you too.”

“Idiot.” Naruto’s grin is so wide, he can hear it in his own voice. “You’re so fucking stupid, oh my god.”

“Shut up,” Sasuke says without any heat behind his words. “Shut the hell up, Naruto.”

“Make me.”

“Okay,” he replies, easy and without fight, leaning forward to capture Naruto’s lips in a kiss.

As soon as their lips meet, Naruto’s heart surges in his chest. They move together slow and languid, as if the concept of time ceases to exist because it’s just the two of them, here, together—_ finally _. Naruto brings a hand to cup Sasuke’s jaw, thumb brushing over his cheekbone as Sasuke wraps his arms around Naruto’s waist, dragging him closer until their chests are flushed against each other fully intending on keeping him there. When Sasuke tilts his head to the side, Naruto follows, lips parting enough for Sasuke to slip his tongue in his mouth and deepen the kiss, not caring for how he steals the air from Naruto’s lungs.

Sasuke’s hands slip under Naruto’s shirt innocently, warm fingers grazing along the ridges of his spine and sending shivers all throughout Naruto’s body. All his focus is on Naruto, and the sheer intensity of his kisses, his touch, has Naruto’s breath hitching against the smirk forming on Sasuke’s lips.

“Asshole,” Naruto breathes into Sasuke’s mouth, finding that holding onto air is becoming a little difficult. “Stop being so smug.”

“Can’t,” Sasuke merely replies, sounding just as breathless. “You make it easy.”

Naruto can’t come up with a retort quick enough, so he leans forward to kiss Sasuke again, and again, and again. It’s less of a kiss and more of a brush of lips against each other, unwilling to part for more than a few seconds at a time fighting against the burning in his lungs from the lack of air. A pretty good compromise in the grand scheme of it all.

A calloused hand move from Naruto’s back to his side, pushing up his shirt without making any other effort to pull it off, simply feeling Naruto in a way that makes Naruto think he’s wanted to for a long time. Sasuke moves from his ribcage to smoothen over Naruto’s bicep, his shoulder, fingers ghosting along the tendon of his neck until his palm cradles his cheek. When Naruto’s eyes glances up and meets Sasuke’s distracting dark eyes, it takes him a moment to realize they’re crinkled from the small smile he has on his face. 

“We should sleep,” Sasuke points out, the smile disappearing, but the softness in his gaze remains. “Got a long day ahead tomorrow.”

“No,” Naruto drawls, lazily turning his head so he can place a kiss to the inside of Sasuke’s palm. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Cut this short.” If there’s a pout forming on his lips, Naruto doesn’t acknowledge it. “You know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

“You have me,” Sasuke replies in earnest. “When this is all over, we won’t have to cut anything short again.”

“Good, jerk.”

Besides himself, Naruto yawns slowly, eyes falling closed. He misses the way Sasuke scrunches his face up.

“Your breath stinks,” he says. “Shut your mouth.”

“You were just kissing this mouth a second and had no complaints then,” Naruto retorts, and settles in close to Sasuke. “I think you’re full of shit.”

“No, that’s your mouth apparently.”

“Fuck you, Sasuke.”

Naruto flips off his middle finger right in Sasuke’s face in reply, before all but turning on his side, away from him. Then the lantern clicks off, and his entire field of vision reverts back to darkness. He can heart Sasuke shuffling beside him, and after a couple seconds of stillness pass by, Sasuke’s arm wraps around his middle as he presses his nose into the nape of Naruto’s neck, the gentle in and out of his breathing making the goosebumps rise along his skin.

“This—” Sasuke starts, squeezing Naruto in his arms before relaxing against him, “—is better.”

“Yeah, guess I can’t really argue with you there.”

“Please don’t. I’m trying to sleep.”

“Asshole.”

Once the word leaves him, Naruto brings his hand to where Sasuke’s rests comfortably on his stomach, lacing their fingers together without a word. Sasuke’s squeezes their hands together as Naruto swipes a thumb over his knuckles, finally letting the heaviness of his eyelids overtake him.

It shouldn’t surprise him at this point just how much easier it is to fall asleep with Sasuke beside him. Naruto doesn’t think he’ll ever be over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH GAY COWBOYS WORKING OUT THEIR FEELINGS! I was tempted to leave this chapter with a bit of a cliffhanger, but decided to leave it in good spirits considering the previous one lol. Will leave the emotional rollercoaster of a last chapter I've got somewhat planned for u guys lol
> 
> ANYWAY, give kudos/comments if you liked it or tell me your favorite part! ^___^
> 
> main tumblr: @sapphicvevo  
naruto tumblr: @adhdsasuke


	3. he's good and he's bad and he's all that i've got

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the patience for the final chapter! I just started school and had some family issues that took most of my time, but I'm finally finished with this story! LOL! <333
> 
> I'm posting this right before class so it's unedited, so excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes you might find! 
> 
> Um. I had to change the rating for this chapter for the fun times lol. Just a heads up if that's not your thing!

It had taken them several days longer than they planned to cross through the mountains. Biting cold air and slippery surfaces aside, the dwindling supplies were not one to take lightly. Truthfully, the moment they all return back to stable ground, Sasuke understands why people kiss the ground. A gratefulness to survival. 

Sasuke decides to kiss Naruto with a clash of teeth and relief flooding through them instead, which he finds to be a much better option. From the soft hum that leaves Naruto, he’s in agreement. 

As expected, the rest of his crew whistles and exchanges a variety of snarky remarks that drowns out to the way Naruto deepens the kiss with a force that almost overwhelms him. If there had been any doubts about the nature of their relationship before, the several days cramped together with Naruto’s and Sasuke’s shared tent so close to the rest of Taka’s had clarified everything immediately. Sasuke never expected anything less from them.

They only make it a few miles outwards before they’re forced to make camp again, the sun painting the sky in hues of orange, pink, and purple. Karin and Suigetsu have already caught them a few rabbits for dinner, Juugo already hard at work since the two brought the meat cutting up rations as the campfire burns in the center. Up ahead in the camp is a stream, so Sasuke takes Naruto with him to fill up a few canteens worth of water to boil over, and to rinse off the smell of sweat and grime over the past several days. If he had to spend another night in that tent smelling the both of them, Sasuke knows this rare good mood of his won’t last. 

Naruto’s eyes shine with mirth as he takes the last of his rationed soap to his body, dressed down into his underwear, clothes long forgotten next to Sasuke’s on the grass. His skin is golden underneath the dwindling sun, every hard line of the muscles on his body in full display. There’s a hickey just along his collarbone Sasuke had left a few days ago that makes the corners of his lips twitch into a smirk.

“Like what you see or something?” Naruto asks in a light, teasing manner as he flicks soapy water at Sasuke’s chest. If the water was any deeper than past their knees, Sasuke would’ve dunked his head in already. 

“I’d like it a lot more if I could see all of you,” Sasuke replies cooly, pleased at how easily the playfully seductive look on Naruto’s face morphs into flushed cheeks and attempting to give another splash in his direction. Before he can, Sasuke grabs at his wrist, his thumb moving over his pulse point in small circles, feeling the way it jumps under his touch. “Tease.”

Naruto scoffs, a little breathless with it. “You saw it all before anyway, bastard.”

Sasuke hums distractedly as he tugs at the other’s wrist. Without a word Naruto moves towards him until they’re close enough for Sasuke’s fingers to run along the muscles of his arm, his shoulders, right until he can press his thumb against the bite mark along his collarbone. The little gasp of breath that escapes Naruto is quickly becoming one of Sasuke’s favorite sounds. Touching Naruto, hearing the way his voice vibrates among his skull, makes all of this real in a way Sasuke believed he’d never be able to have.

A future with the one person he couldn’t cut off, no matter how hard Sasuke tried because Naruto had been too stubborn for his own good. 

How lucky he was to have someone like Naruto in the same world as him.

“What are you thinking about?” Naruto asks in a softer voice, the one he always uses when they’re alone and away from the others—only ever for Sasuke. The way his fingers smoothen over Sasuke’s jaw, thumb curled over his chin to drag his eyes down to meet Naruto’s overwhelming gaze. “You’ve got that look in your eye again.”

“Hm, what look?”

“Sasuke,” Naruto drags out his name like a whine, and no matter how annoying it should be, it only makes Sasuke lean closer towards him, until the tips of their noses brush and they’re breathing in the same air. Apparently it’s the only thing Naruto needs to say these days to get Sasuke to cave in. 

“All this time you’ve been so focused on what I wanted after this is all over,” Sasuke says, dragging a thumb from the scars lining his cheek to push back a strand of blonde hair from his face. “Yet you never told me what you wanted after Itachi’s dead, Naruto.”

“You,” Naruto answers without missing a beat. There’s a seriousness in his voice that not even Sasuke could make fun of, not when the word brings a warmth through him that envelops him within seconds. “Once we get this bounty taken care of, just you and me back in Konoha. Live out our lives together.”

Sasuke snorts, quiet and full of fondness. “Sounds to me you want us to grow old together.”

“Maybe,” he replies, lips brushing against Sasuke’s throat. He can feel the smile from the other against his skin, a comfortable heat prickling all over him. “Consider it us making up for lost time.”

Just as Sasuke opens his mouth to reply, Naruto’s body tenses within his hold. It’s only then does he hear the familiar click of a safety being released. Sasuke reaches for his holster, but curses once he remembers it’s discarded amongst the creekside. 

When he moves so he’s the one in front of Naruto, and sees the woman behind the gun, he could almost laugh. Almost.

“Am I interrupting something?” Sakura asks, eyeing the both of them with a tired expression on her face. Amusement sprinkled in too, if Sasuke squints.

“Sakura!” Naruto exclaims, the sudden smile overtaking his face nearly blinding. “How the hell did you find us?”

“Believe me, it wasn’t easy.”

Sasuke eyes her warily. “Are you going to put the gun down for this conversation?”

A small smirk forms on her lips as she puts the safety back on, reholstering her gun with a flick of her wrist. “Nice to see you again too, Sasuke.”

Of course a pointed gun is how all three of them reunite.

***

Funnily enough, Naruto’s the one who ends up playing peacemaker when Sakura ends up joining them. 

Being in the cold and harsh mountains had created some semblance of connection between Naruto and the rest of Sasuke’s gang, and when they realized he was there to stay, they toned down on aggravating Naruto by a smidgen. The resentment and attitudes they had for each other weren’t completely erased, but they had something in common that made them come to term they were on the same side: Sasuke. Apparently that had been enough for both Naruto and the rest of them. 

Adding Sakura to the group reminds Naruto of his first several days with the group, and he more than understands how Sakura’s feeling. Besides, it’s nice to have someone to bitch with after all these weeks of dealing with Taka on his own.

“Oh, and don’t even get me started on Karin,” Sakura continues from her twenty minute rant, carrying around several carcasses of wild rabbit they’ve managed to hunt on this past session. There’s a flush on her cheeks that comes whenever Sakura’s in a mood about the other girl. “Always getting under my damn skin. You know what I think? I think she’s threatened another girl who’s better than her has finally joined up, and she’s purposefully trying to get in my face about it.”

“You know, Sakura, maybe there’s a reason besides that for why she gets under your skin,” Naruto remarks, wiggling his brows suggestively despite the frown on her face. “This is exactly how it was with you and Ino back in—”

“No way in hell is it anything like that,” she snaps, nostrils flaring. If her hands weren’t busy, Naruto knows he’d be on the receiving end of one of her punches by now. A few minutes pass by in silence, and once the pink from Sakura’s cheeks have disappeared and she’s mellowed out a bit more, she breaks the quiet with a question that’s been unasked between the two of them since she arrived. “After Itachi’s dead, are we all heading back to Konoha?”

It’s a question that’s been lingering in his mind ever since Sasuke had asked what it was Naruto wanted all those days ago at the creak. A part of Naruto had wanted to return back to Konoha, with Sasuke and Sakura, and Sasuke had finally come to terms with wanting to be with Naruto but of course things wouldn’t be that simple. 

Naruto sighs and gives a hesitant shrug. “That’s the plan, so far. I just don’t know how it’s all going to work out.”

“Especially with the bounty on all of their heads,” Sakura says. “That just doesn’t go away because Itachi’s out of the picture.”

“I know. That’s kinda the most glaring problem here.”

They make it back to the horse, and as Sakura attaches their game they’ve caught from earlier, she offers a reassuring smile to him. “Listen, Naruto. All these months I thought Sasuke had killed you, or you had killed him, and there was this doubt I had that you’d ever get Sasuke to slow down enough to listen to what you had to say. If anyone’s going to be able to figure out how to work out the issues Konoha has with Sasuke, it’s going to be you.”

“Gee, thanks for the pressure,” Naruto replies dryly, and with a shove of his shoulder, he’s laughing. “Seriously, Sakura, thanks. All I care about right now though is getting through this one day at a time.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m well aware.”

Especially because they’re only a day away from Kirigakure.

***

Kirigakure is the last place Sasuke would expect to find Itachi. Although he supposes that’s why it’s been so difficult to locate him for all these years.

Chasing Itachi has been an ever-persistent state of mind even before Sasuke had murdered Orochimaru. It had been his reason for breathing, training his body until it had been spent and sore and nothing more than a bag of bones, and had been the sole fire fueled by his hatred to keep going even when by all accounts he should be dead twice over now. Distance had made the pulsing hatred almost go numb, all those years of chasing and waiting only dulling the fervor of ending Itachi’s life. 

Being this close to his brother alights the fire once again. As if all his senses have sharpened, eyes trained on the subtlest twitch of expression from one of the townsfolk, the quick race of his heart from seeing anyone with the similar dark eyes that’s haunted him in his nightmares. Call it paranoia or intuition, but being in this town has him on edge in a way he hasn’t been since Orochimaru had been a looming predator in his life. The familiarity only confirms Sasuke is closing in on the man who slaughtered his entire family in a single night.

“We’re going to split up,” Sasuke says to the other five in his group, eyes locked ahead in the sea of people. “Cover more ground.”

“Where are we meeting?” Karin asks.

“Center of town,” he replies without hesitation. “Don’t engage if you find him. Itachi is my kill.”

Of course Naruto’s the one to protest first, “Hey, I don’t think splitting up is such a good idea. We came here to _help _you, Sasuke. Who’s to say Itachi’s gang isn’t staking out for you already, huh?”

“That’s why I said don’t engage until we all meet back,” Sasuke replies. “Don’t do anything stupid, Naruto.”

“Why are you only saying that to _me _, bastard?”

“Because you need to hear it the most,” Sakura replies with a teasing smile. When Naruto gawks at her and turns to Sasuke, he doesn’t say a word, which apparently says enough from the look of betrayal that crosses his features. 

Naruto huffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “I don’t care. I still don’t like it.”

Sasuke jerks his head forward, enough of a signal for Taka to already head off. When he meets Sakura’s questioning gaze, recognizes the same doubt hidden in her eyes that he sees in Naruto, and gives her a simple nod. Her face hardens as she returns the nod before leaving the two alone.

“Naruto,” he starts as soon as they’re out of earshot, gaze locked on Naruto’s stormy blue eyes. “I know you’re nervous, but this is what needs to be done. This is you helping me kill Itachi.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Naruto replies, and there’s an edge to his voice that breaks through the cold mask Sasuke now wears. It makes his heart clench. “Just, something doesn’t feel right, y’know? I feel like this could be…” Shaking his head, his brows furrows as he struggles to come up with the right words. “What if something happens to you and I’m not there and—”

Moments like these are when Sasuke knows Naruto will shut up with a kiss, but there’s too many eyes surrounding them and Sasuke doesn’t want to bring attention to himself or to Naruto, so he reaches out and grips his hand instead. Luckily with the cover of their ponchos, nobody can tell what it is they’re doing, but from the way Naruto’s eyes snap up to meet his own and the way his fingers lace with Sasuke’s, this might have just been all he needed.

“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” Sasuke says, low and deep and entirely genuine. “I told you already I want you by my side after this is over.”

“Even you can’t control everything, Sasuke.”

“My word is all I have,” he says, squeezing Naruto’s hand tight. “You’ve never wavered on me before. Don’t start now.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m coming back to you.”

Naruto nods firmly, unable to respond. There’s a tight squeeze of his hand as Naruto gives him one lingering look and slowly releases his grip, a display of trust written all over his features. Once he leaves his sight, Sasuke’s resolve only grows stronger. 

There’s no way in hell he’s going to let Naruto down.

Several minutes pass by uneventful as Sasuke continues his crawl through the town, and for the longest time, he can’t help but feel as if he’s being watched. It’s been this way since they’ve stepped into town, and despite this, he can’t find the exact reason why the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention.

Not until the man who’s been following him finally makes his presence known.

“You are the exact spitting image of Itachi,” the older man says from behind. Sasuke turns immediately at the mention of his brother’s name, already reaching for his pistol when he glances that the man stands there, unperturbed, rolling his eyes. “Relax, no need to shoot the messenger. I’m only here to bring you to Itachi.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes, and glances over to where he’d last seen Naruto walk off. 

Just as he’s about to open his mouth, the other man cuts him off, “Alone.” 

The thought of going alone to face off Itachi doesn’t ring the alarms in his brain like he knows it should. Except Sasuke knows Itachi, knows he at least has the decency to keep up the one on one fight he’s promised him ever since that fateful night.

“Take me to him.”

It’s time Sasuke finishes this.

***

When Naruto finds his way back to the center of town, a knot forms deep within his stomach and only worsens when he sees the familiar faces of Suigetsu, Juugo, Karin and Sakura, but no Sasuke anywhere in sight. Apparently from the similar looks of varying degrees of anxiety, the rest of them were feeling the same way.

“Sasuke’s not with you?” Suigetsu asks, and Naruto’s mouth downturns at the accusational tone in the other man’s words. The only reason he doesn’t snap is because beyond that Naruto can see the concern in those usually wild eyes of his.

Naruto shakes his head. “We separated after we had a quick talk, but he agreed that he’d meet us back here.”

“Maybe he just got held up or something,” Sakura offers, as she places a small calloused hand, warm and comforting on his shoulder. But despite the words, Naruto can tell she wasn’t quite so convinced of her own words.

They knew better than anyone how impulsive Sasuke became when it came to Itachi. After all, it was Naruto and Sakura who had received the brunt of Sasuke’s tunnel vision, chasing lead after lead only to get blown off, abandoned to the point where Sakura had all but given up. Not Taka.

Cringing at the fact he hasn’t outgrown the lingering resentment he felt towards Sasuke and his gang, he doesn’t linger on it. Even if Naruto didn’t like them much, he could respect that for them, staying with Sasuke was more than out of obligation. They cared about him in their own way and that’s what Naruto had hoped for all those years separated from each other—that Sasuke was okay, that he had people looking out for him even if Naruto couldn’t be there.

A realization dawns on him, and from the look of the others, they have the same idea. If they’re going to find Sasuke before he does something characteristically stupid and impulsive, they’d have to work together.

“Which way did he say he was checking out?” Karin asks, pushing up her specs from sliding off the bridge of her nose—eyes focused, face serious in a way he hasn’t bared witness to since he’s been in her company.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Naruto replies, blanking. “I know he went down that street.”

“Let’s go then,” she replies. “I’m the best tracker in this gang—if anyone can find that stubborn son of a bitch, I can.”

Sakura eyes draws towards the two of them. “Shouldn’t we split up into pairs looking for him? Wouldn’t all of us together like this draw attention?”

“If Sasuke hasn’t returned to us already, then that simply means the attention has already been drawn,” Juugo replies, eyes steely as he focuses his gaze ahead. “No use in staying covert if we’ve already been discovered.”

Naruto’s stomach sinks further into the pit of his belly, but it only stirs him to focus on the current issue at hand. All the more determined to find Sasuke before anyone else did. On his hip, the weight of the pistols in each of his holster feel heavier than they’d been in the last few minutes, making his fingers twitch anxiously at his sides.

After finally getting him back after all these years, only to have Sasuke ripped away from him the moment he needed Naruto most, Naruto didn’t know what he would do. Couldn’t think of it without panic paralyzing his lungs, as if someone had reached inside and grabbed everything inside him and squeezed until Naruto felt numb from it.

He doesn’t realize he’s running until everyone else is following him, matching Naruto’s quick pace.

***

They manage to find Itachi’s hideout relatively quickly. 

Without Karin’s tracking skills, Naruto knows it would have taken him at least a few more hours before he had any semblance of idea where Sasuke was at. The building is mostly insignificant, on the outskirts of the town appearing as if it’s barely held together, but large enough to be home to a gang managed by Itachi. A former warehouse that had burned to the ground from the looks of the scorch marks and unstable infrastructure, but the name of the building has long been scratched out.

Outside the building, a man with a sharp smirk stands at attention, eyeing all five of them with a challenging glint there. Already expecting them. “Your boy’s busy,” he says knowingly, and the smirk only grows once he catches Naruto gritting his teeth. “Itachi only wanted to see him and him alone.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Naruto spits out, voice low and dangerous. The older man is taller than him by at least a foot, but Naruto’s already within his space, glaring daggers up at him. “Move the hell out of the way if you know what’s good for you.”

The man laughs with his whole chest, despite the fact his stance does not falter, still on guard despite the humor rushing through him. “A little runt like you should know better than to be throwing around threats, huh? Don’t you think?”

Another person steps next to Naruto, and he doesn’t need to so much as glance to know who when Suigetsu’s voice rings out next to him, “Kisame, huh? Everyone back in town always wondered where you wandered off too. Nobody expected you’d end up as a glorified body guard, hm?”

When Naruto steals a glance of Suigetsu, the wink the other sends his way is enough to know where the other man’s headspace is at. He gives a brief nod as Kisame’s eyes narrow dangerously at the both of them, though his grin only grows wider. 

“Suigetsu,” Kisame says in realization. The man’s hands rest casually against the wooden posts, shirt riding up to reveal the guns holstered at his hips. A warning and an invitation all at once. “You’ve grown since I’ve last seen you. Still running your mouth though, even when the odds are stacked against you.”

By looks alone, it would’ve seemed that this Kisame was the one who seemed outgunned, outmatched. Appearances at a glance rarely told the whole picture. If this is Itachi’s hideout, there has to be more of his gang littering around.

Which is why only Naruto and Suigetsu are the ones to approach Kisame while the rest of their group surround the perimeter, searching for any other member of the gang they haven’t accounted for. All that’s left is waiting for the signal the two of them need before they break the teetering balance of a stand-off and all hell breaking loose.

“Think you’ve gotten more stupid since I’ve last seen you, Kisame,” Suigetsu replies easy with a biting lilt to his words, giving a familiar, unfriendly smile. “It’s two against one. Do the math, pea brain. You’re the one who should be sweating.”

Another laugh escapes from Kisame then, bellowing and full of amusement at Suigetsu’s words. He shakes his head, but Naruto’s too focused on the way his hand rests on his hip, just inches away from the handle of the gun. “Man, you’re all pretty stupid, huh?” Kisame doesn’t wait for an answer. “Itachi’s been expecting this for a long time now. None of you brats know what you’re getting into here.”

Years and experience in the bounty hunting business have made Naruto all but immune to words such as Kisame’s. Bluffs, begging, bargaining—anything and everything to get the upper hand, to weasel their way out of a situation they know they’re too pinned down against. Kisame’s words and taunts are to be expected, but there’s something about the ease in the way the man holds himself, the knowing gaze in those eyes of his that has Naruto’s gut twisting in on itself. 

Ever since they stepped into this town, there’s been a gnawing worry that's been building. He thought it’d been in his own mind, but the words echo in his mind as he remembers the way Sasuke’s eyes had grown distant, jaw tight and rigid. Shutting Naruto out again. 

At first, Naruto had chalked it up to the fact Sasuke was finally coming face to face with his brother. Now he wonders if it’s because Sasuke knew something Naruto didn’t.

In the distance, the sound of chirping catches his attention. Naruto’s heart stops. Then a second one comes, and a third in quick succession. The signal they’ve been waiting for. All clear.

None of it makes any sense to Naruto. There should be more of Itachi’s gang around than just one man.

Suigetsu doesn’t hesitate before pulling out his gun, but Kisame had been expecting this and elbows him in the temple with his left arm, using his right to reach for his pistol holstered. Except Naruto’s there, two pistols drawn. The other man doesn’t falter and instead collides right into Naruto right before he could get the safety off, his back colliding to the dirt floor and knocking the wind right out of his lungs, leaving Naruto wheezing and his pistols clatter to the ground. 

The barrel of Kisame’s gun lines up perfectly as Naruto manages to grab the gun closest to him. Naruto pulls the trigger the bullet without hesitation, catching the older man in the shoulder and knocking off his aim enough that when the other man’s gun goes off, it barely misses Naruto by a hair.

Panting and cheeks flushed, whether from the residual heat of the bullet or the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Naruto sits up as Suigetsu whips Kisame’s head with the butt of his revolver. Kisame doesn’t go down so easy, stumbling a bit as he grabs Suigetsu’s wrist with his uninjured hand and wringing it until Suigetsu cries out. With as much force as he can manage, Naruto kicks at Kisame’s knee and keeps kicking until it finally gives way until the man falls to the ground with a loud thud.

When Naruto stands, his pistol’s aiming right towards Kisame, arm steady and voice low when he asks, “What the hell aren’t you saying?”

“Now_ that _was fun,” Kisame responds with a laugh, hands up in surrender. It does nothing to alleviate the idea the other man will strike again without warning. “They weren’t kidding when they said you’d put up a fight, Uzumaki.”

Naruto’s eyes narrow dangerously. “How do you know my name?”

“Like I said, Itachi’s been expecting you all for a _long _time.”

The blood in Naruto’s veins goes cold.

Standing slowly and wiping the blood from his mouth, Suigetsu has his pistol pointed at Kisame, eyes unwavering as a pleased smile takes over his face. “Go,” he says to Naruto, jerking his head in the direction to the warehouse entrance. “I’ve got things from here. We’re gonna have fun together, isn’t that right Kisame?” 

Naruto’s already gone before Kisame can answer. The door to the warehouse nearly falls off its hinges with the brute force he uses to push it open, the creaking echoing into the abandoned space. Scanning the area, past the crates and metal scattered throughout the room, Naruto’s heart stops at the sight before him. 

A body laying face-down in a pool of its own blood. 

His body’s moving without any instruction from Naruto’s brain, because all his thoughts are racing with the mantra of, _Not him. For the love of god, please not him _. 

“Sasuke!” The scream tears from his throat, raw and desperate. “Sasuke, answer me!”

The body doesn’t move. When Naruto approaches, boots skidding on the dusty concrete floor below, he hesitates briefly before reaching down and turning the body over, slowly, watching with baited breath as the dark hair shifts from the movement. Naruto pushes the hair back and is met with dark, lifeless eyes staring back at him. A trail of blood running from Itachi’s mouth to his chin. 

Relief floods through him at the fact it’s not Sasuke’s dead body he’s holding. 

“You really thought I’d go down that easy, idiot?”

Sasuke’s voice floods through him, making the tension leave his body at the sound despite how ragged and pained it is. Naruto’s head snaps in the direction it came from, and in the shadows there he is, barely able to hold himself up against one of the crates. Already Naruto’s crawling to him, and the closer he gets, the more he can see how damaged Sasuke really is. Bruises lining the exposed flesh, one of his eyelids purple and nearly closed shut. There’s a crookedness to his nose that wasn’t there before, blood trickling out of his nostrils, and it’s definitely broken. Blood smeared on his clothes, on his forehead all the way down towards his jaw. It’s impossible to tell if the blood belongs to him or Itachi.

Doesn’t matter either way, because Sasuke’s alive and Naruto’s never letting the bastard out of his sight again.

Naruto grips his shirt with one hand, tugging him close as his free hand grips the side of his jaw that’s unmarked, untouched—fingers shaking with the effort of holding Sasuke in his hands. Tears burn his eyes, and no amount of blinking can keep them from overflowing and falling onto the stupid man below him. “I should fucking punch you in your ugly mouth, you asshole,” Naruto grunts out, shaking his head violently. “Thought you were—” A cuss escapes from him instead of the word that sticks to Naruto’s throat like tar. “I thought you _left _me again.”

The words hang in the air, thick and heavy. Both of them know what he means without expanding.

“Told you already, idiot,” Sasuke breathes out, hand reaching out to wipe the tears freefalling from Naruto with reckless abandon. It takes all of Naruto’s resolve not to sink into the touch, crumble into Sasuke when he’s the one who’s bleeding and broken underneath him. “Gave you my word I’d stay with you.”

When Naruto glances up to meet Sasuke’s dark eyes, his breath stutters in his throat. No one has ever looked at him with such fondness before, such devotion and intensity that makes Naruto feel alive in a way no one else has ever come close to making him feel. 

Naruto crashes his lips to Sasuke without thinking. Copper and the taste of Sasuke fills his mouth. The other man kisses him back despite the slight whimper of pain Sasuke lets out that makes Naruto turn the kiss into something warm, but still desperate, still clinging to the other man as if all life depended on it. Fingers rake through Naruto’s hair, calloused and tugging Naruto closer and closer until Naruto can feel Sasuke’s heartbeat, strong and lively, beat against his chest.

Only reason Naruto pulls back is because his lungs are on fire. He breathes hard against Sasuke’s lips, and mumbles into the other’s mouth, “Let’s get you out of here. Think we’ve had enough of this place for a lifetime.”

Sasuke nods without complaint and doesn’t allow himself to linger on his brother’s corpse.

***

As much as Sasuke would’ve preferred to ignore the weight of his years long chase ending, the town of Kirigakure refuses to let him forget it. 

The townsfolk deemed him a hero once the news had spread over Itachi’s dead, a fact Sasuke finds laughable at most. Heroism isn’t what drove him to finding and killing his brother for the annihilation of his family, but to any unbiased outsider, vengeance and righteousness were one in the same. Sasuke did what he felt was necessary. A life for too many lives Itachi had destroyed. Nothing more, nothing less.

In return for his services, however, the people of Kirigakure had welcomed him and his gang with open arms. Along with Sakura, the doctors of this town had treated him of his injuries. The mayor had offered them lodging in the town’s inn for as long as they need until they were ready to depart. All in the name of gratitude for ridding the town of their biggest threat since its founding so many years ago. 

Any of this should’ve stirred some kind of feeling in Sasuke, but it didn’t. When he imagined how he’d feel after finally ending his brother’s life, he expected a weight to be lifted off his shoulders, a sense of relief that the other man would no longer pose a threat to him or any of his loved ones in his life again. Except Itachi’s death only brought Sasuke a numbing sense of emptiness gnawing at his core. 

He’s not sure how he feels about it. 

“You’re experiencing battle exhaustion,” Sakura explained after she rewraps the wound of his arm where Itachi had stabbed him with a butterfly knife Sasuke didn’t see him pull from his satchel. The both of them alone in the single clinic the town had available. “That’s what I remember Tsunade telling me about it from her time during the war. After a particularly bad battle, the soldiers would come back to the tents with the same thousand yard stare you’ve got right now.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular. “Is it permanent?”

“Shouldn’t be,” Sakura had responded with a shrug. Once she was finished with cleaning up the rest of his wounds littered across his body, she had patted him on the shoulder and gave a small, yet still reassuring smile. The same one she’d give when they were kids. “You’ll get through it eventually, just like with everything else in your life. Give it some time, Sasuke.”

Time itself has apparently become an infinite resource for him now that he’s no longer focused on avenging his family. The sole problem being Sasuke not knowing what to do with himself after everything that’s happened. 

Of course he still has Taka, Sakura, and Naruto. A part of him still can’t comprehend Naruto’s here with him after everything Sasuke has done to him, making sure Sasuke’s taking care of himself when he has no desire to, kissing him lazily whenever they’re alone in their private room within the inn they’re staying at. The fact he gets to indulge in Naruto, in the overwhelming attention and desire and presence of the other man makes all of this seem unreal. As if he’s in a dream world unable to wake up. 

Sasuke knows he’ll never get used to it. Having Naruto in the way he’s wanted for so long, all of him, undivided and solely his. Knowing he gets to finally be with the other man without anymore obstacles in the way is the only reason he hasn’t spiraled more than he has. 

It’s difficult to focus on anything else besides Naruto, especially when he’s writhing underneath Sasuke, making those noises that carves out a permanent presence in Sasuke’s mind.

“God _fucking _damn it,” Naruto whines into the pillow, clutching at the sheets with so much fervor his knuckles turn white. He can’t see his face from the way its buried into the pillow, but Sasuke can only imagine how Naruto looks. Cheeks flushed, sweat dripping down his temple, jaw slack. It only makes Sasuke curl his fingers in him deeper, warmth flooding through him at the low moan he pulls from Naruto’s throat. “Enough, I’m ready. Want you inside me right fucking now Sasuke, or I swear to god—”

“If you don’t stop whining,” Sasuke says, voice low, careful, as he twitches fingers around inside Naruto, “I’ll just leave you like this.” 

A shudder rocks its way down Naruto’s spine at the promise in Sasuke’s words, rocking his hips back in order to take in more of his fingers, greedy with it. He turns his head to the side, just enough for Sasuke to see the utter desire within them. “Don’t or I’ll punch you, bastard,” he replies breathlessly, lips curving into an almost smile.

As if in answer, Sasuke pulls his fingers out completely, somehow managing to keep a completely neutral expression despite the lewd sound that his fingers make when he pulls out. “Will you,” Sasuke says, lightly, trying his best to ignore the heat of desire that only grows stronger by the second. It’s a miracle he hasn’t already had his way with Naruto, with him looking all flushed and wanton and open and maybe later Sasuke will waste no time on teasing, but not now. Not when he can have Naruto like this, under him, all but pleading. Sasuke shifts, to place a kiss on the curve of Naruto’s spine. “Be nice, Naruto.”

“You’re the one who’s being mean first,” Naruto mumbles, voice straining with the effort to keep the desperation in it. It’s endearing really, watching the way Naruto dips into the mattress at the simple kiss, at the way he moves his body as if he’s unsure if he wants to rut against the mattress or press back against Sasuke for some relief. “Look at what you’re doing to me, Sasuke. Can’t help it if I’m snappy…”

Sasuke moves again, to slot his dick against Naruto’s asshole, and immediately, Naruto stills, and Sasuke can hear Naruto’s breath hitching in his throat, and it takes an incredible amount of self-restraint for Sasuke to not just slam his hips against Naruto, after all that foreplay. He doesn’t warn Naruto, not even pausing for Naruto to adjust to Sasuke’s weight, before slowly, slowly, he pushes in.

A gasp escapes Naruto once Sasuke is buried completely inside him, and he can feel the way the muscles around his dick contracts around him, tight and hot and on the verge of too much. Naruto’s head bows forward as his body shakes underneath Sasuke, adjusting to the feel of him until he tentatively rocks his hips back against him, the feel of it slow and tantalizing and making the grip Sasuke has on his hips tighten until he’s sure there will be finger shaped bruises later.

“Sasuke.” Naruto’s voice is dripping with want, low and heady—the sound alone making Sasuke’s dick twitch inside him. “Need you to move.”

Sasuke doesn’t move. Not yet. He savors the press of Naruto around his dick, the heat, the way that every shake in Naruto’s body, Sasuke can feel as well. He inhales. He exhales. And then he moves. One long and slow drag out of Naruto, sensation so thick that Sasuke’s mind goes cloud with it, and he doesn’t completely pull out--just enough that Naruto knows what he’s missing, and then--with all the animalistic desire in him--Sasuke slams right into Naruto. 

He tries to go slow, and he succeeds, initially. He tries to tease, and he tries to keep Naruto on edge, but Sasuke’s selfish. He’s thinking of himself too, and Naruto’s twitching and moaning and gasping doesn’t help, so he only picks up his pace, gripping Naruto hard and fucking into Naruto with fervor, with years of desperation, of hunger. He kisses Naruto’s neck, bites the slope of Naruto’s shoulders, murmurs things that make no sense into Naruto’s skin--_ It’s always been you, only you, you’re good, thank you _\--and he just keeps going and going and going. 

Naruto’s hand reaches back to take Sasuke’s hand in his, threading their fingers together with a grip that’s crushing and drags their hands up and up until he’s pressing an open-mouthed kiss to Sasuke’s knuckles. “Sasuke, I wanna see you.” The words come out clipped and short, eyes half-lidded and lips parted. “Want to kiss your stupid, perfect mouth.”

“You’re so bad at this,” Sasuke pants, and he’s so, so, so dizzy. All because of Naruto—the want, the lust, the adoration in Naruto’s voice. How stupid, Sasuke was, to not have Naruto like this, when he had the time. He slows down, pulls out completely, turns Naruto onto his back and the fondness in Naruto’s eyes when he looks into Sasuke’s face makes Sasuke’s heart flip-flop uselessly in his chest.

_I love you _, Sasuke thinks, dumbly, silently. The words are too heavy to think, much less speak out loud, so Sasuke kisses Naruto. Slow and sweet and gentle, and completely out of place. 

Naruto sinks into the kiss, fingers tangling in Sasuke’s hair with the same desperation, the same heat, but matching the sweetness. Kissing Naruto is all consuming, even during their softer ones—the ones that make his heart swell and melt into Naruto so completely. His toned leg drags over the back of Sasuke’s thighs, the hairs of his legs sending tickling him until Naruto wraps himself completely around Sasuke and drags him close by his own strength, their chests brushing against each other.

All it takes is Naruto to lift his hips against Sasuke’s, his hard, leaking dick smearing pre-come dragging against Sasuke’s that sets his nerves on fire.

“Sasuke,” Naruto breathes into his mouth, like a prayer only meant for him. “I love you.”

The words make Sasuke still, pull back just enough so he can see Naruto’s face. He expects his eyes to be unfocused, glazed over, but they’re as clear as any other time Naruto’s words have caught him off guard. Like everything Naruto says or does, there’s a purposefulness behind them that not even Sasuke can doubt.

Everything Sasuke’s buried within rushes out of him like a dam breaking. Sasuke crashes his lips against Naruto’s, his love bleeding out from his kiss, from every scorching touch they leave behind on each other. His chest burns as the words he wants to say strangle his throat, making breathing all but impossible. The kiss deepens and Sasuke pours everything he has into it. All to make Naruto  _ feel _ his love and adoration.

This is what Sasuke wants. Naruto, Naruto, and only Naruto. For the rest of his damn life if he can help it.

Sasuke pushes back inside him slowly, watches the way Naruto’s head falls back against the pillows and exposes the tendons and veins jumping underneath the skin when he moans. Naruto’s beautiful like this, brows pulled together and lips parted in pleasure, tender and open and giving all of himself to Sasuke. Bringing his mouth to Naruto’s neck, he licks and sucks and kisses the exposed flesh, stomach tightening with the way it makes Naruto clench down on his dick, tight and hot and overwhelming. 

_ I love you _ , Sasuke can’t help but think again. His mind turning into a chorus of them.  _ I love you, I love you, I love you _ …

“I love you too,” Naruto whispers against Sasuke’s ear. Did the words leave past him without noticing? “ _ Fuck _ , I love you so much.”

They’re both belligerent. Have to be, and Sasuke can’t think, can only feel—how his own pre-come leaking into Naruto makes fucking into him easier, and Sasuke can feel every moan, ever tremor, every twitch of Naruto’s body and it’s so _much_. The push and the pull and heat and the way Naruto’s holding onto him and the violent, too-good pleasure building up in Sasuke’s gut with every thrust. 

“Naruto,” Sasuke pants, into Naruto’s neck. “I’m going to—” he thrusts into Naruto, unthinking—“I’m gonna come.”

“Me too,” Naruto replies back, voice lilting in an almost giddy laughter. Too lost in the pleasure, in the love. “Keep going.”

It’s not Naruto begging, it’s a demand. The sound of it shoots a shock down his spine.

All it takes is a few more thrusts into him until Sasuke realizes he’s at the edge, hazy and dripping with sweat, and he’s about to pull out so he doesn’t spill into him, but Naruto must sense it. He tightens his legs around Sasuke, the muscles of his calves tensing against him and making sure Sasuke doesn’t move, stays right where he wants him. It’s all too much and Sasuke slams his hips into him, once, twice, before he spills into him with a curse tearing out of him. 

For a long moment, he’s still, trying to catch the breath stolen from him. Body sensitive and legs still shaking even as his heartbeat begins to slow, steadily, with each inhale he takes, the scent of Naruto’s skin calming him. When he finally has enough strength to drag himself off Naruto, not enough to pull out because he doesn’t know if he can handle that right now, his breath hitches in his throat at the sight of Naruto. Eyes dilated so only a sliver of the deep blue of his iris visible, mouth swollen from the kisses, his own come over his belly, panting and twitching in the aftermath. 

The fact that Naruto had come untouched makes Sasuke’s softening dick inside him twitch, the oversensitivity making him gasp as he finally decides its time to pull out. 

Naruto doesn’t let him get too far though, because his arms are still wrapped around his neck, and he drags him back over slowly, a little weaker, back to his lips so Sasuke can kiss him. It’s the only thing he wants to do more than anything else in the world.

“You said you loved me,” Naruto mumbles against his lips, and Sasuke can feel the smile there. Wants to keep it there for as long as he can. “Did you know that?”

“I do,” he replies back, softly. “I meant it.”

They kiss again, again, and again. Until they’re warm from it, until their jaws ache from it. Even still, it takes all of Sasuke’s resolve to pull away in order to clean the both of them up with a warm cloth, gentle in his touch. 

Both of them lay together, their breathing in sync until he can feel Naruto drift off into sleep, curled around him. 

Sasuke falls asleep with the thought he finally gets to have this. Finally. 

***

At midnight Sasuke awakes with a start. This time not because of a nightmare, not one he can remember anyway, but the lingering after-effects of one. Wariness, the feeling something's not quite right. Sasuke stays there on his back, staring up at the ceiling until he can't ignore the intuitive feeling of something wrong in his chest. 

On his side, Naruto snores softly, arm dragged protectively over Sasuke's stomach as he drools on his shoulder. Sasuke smiles, warm and filled with admiration, and places a kiss to the forehead once he pushes back the fringe of his hair. Then he slowly peels himself away from Naruto's grasp, gentle as to not wake him, and resolves himself to returning back to bed before Naruto notices. 

All he needs is a quick walk to clear his head. That's it.

What he doesn't know is that outside in the dead of night is a man waiting for him. A man in a wooden mask, dark hair, and a message. 

A truth Itachi had withheld from him until now.

***

When Naruto eventually stirs awake, he reaches out only to find the space where Sasuke usually is empty. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he glances over towards the window to gauge the time and when he’s met with the darkness of early morning, the sun promising to rise anytime within the hour, he frowns. 

There’s not many places Sasuke could’ve gone this early. A dull sense of worry fills his chest that only relents when Naruto reminds himself Sasuke had promised him he wouldn’t leave him again. Naruto refuses to doubt Sasuke at his word, but there’s still a certain unease growing the longer he lays in bed and Sasuke doesn’t return. He lets out a huff as he rolls out of bed, grabbing for his pants discarded from the night before. It’s not like he’ll be getting back to sleep until he knows Sasuke is alright anyway, so he opts to search for him instead of waiting for Sasuke to return.

Outside the air is chilly, sending goosebumps through him even after Naruto shrugs on his jacket. Light from the east lights up the morning in a hazy blue, clouds covering the sky in various shades of grays. A quick glance of the street before him shows Sasuke’s nowhere in sight, so he walks aimlessly in the direction of the most likely place he could find Sasuke so early in the morning.

Naruto finds himself at the entrance of the stables, door open just a crack, a warm golden light of a lantern glows from within. He doesn’t understand why when he pushes himself inside his stomach curls at the sight of Sasuke with his horse, considering Naruto knew where to find him. It only worsens when Sasuke glances towards him, acknowledges him with a blank look in his eye, before returning his focus on his horse.

“You’re up early,” Sasuke says, not meeting his eyes. Something about the way he utters the words, carefully devoid of emotion, almost a little hoarse, has Naruto swallowing a lump in his throat. 

“Can say the same for you,” Naruto replies, making his way over towards Sasuke. Close up, he can see the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, lids puffy. Just looking at him gives Naruto a certain exhaustion. “You didn’t sleep last night, did you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sasuke shrugs. “Didn’t want to wake you.”

The discomfort in the pit of Naruto’s gut only grows stronger until it spills out of him.

“What happened?” Naruto asks, brows furrowing in concern. He takes Sasuke’s cheek in his hand, careful to avoid the healing bruise there. “You’re freaking me out here, Sasuke. Talk to me.”

“I’ve had a truth revealed to me.”

Frowning slightly, Naruto can’t help but tilt his head at the vague statement. “What kinda truth?”

“About Itachi,” Sasuke answers dully despite how tight the words sound, as if he’s using every ounce of his power to keep himself steady. At the mention of Itachi, Sasuke’s eyes go a few shades darker, sharper. “The real reason behind the massacre of my family.”

The mere mention of the words _truth _and _massacre _has the air around them drop a few degrees in temperature. Any and all questions Naruto wants to ask are stilted, caught in his throat and threatening to choke him. His brain sprints to catch up with the racing thoughts overflowing his mind. What truth was there that Sasuke of all people could be shocked about? Had Itachi revealed something within his final moments? That wouldn’t have made any sense because if he had, Sasuke would’ve told him about it. Unless Sasuke was finally ready to tell him about what happened. 

Instead of voicing any of his thoughts aloud, Naruto stands there and waits for Sasuke to explain. Will wait forever if he has to. 

“Konoha was behind the massacre.”

For a moment, he stands there in attempt to process the words leaving Sasuke’s mouth until Naruto’s eyes grow impossibly wide at the realization. It can’t be true, can it? Not when the Uchiha were apart of Konoha’s original founders, not when they protected the town by making up the total police force.

Sasuke must be able to read his mind, because he says in the most detached voice Naruto’s ever heard from him, “The council members forced Itachi’s hand. Apparently my father and several others had discovered corruption with one of them in particular, which is probably what led Danzō to order the hit.”

“Mayor Danzō,” Naruto corrects softly, voice almost numb. “The bastard’s mayor now.”

If that fact bothers Sasuke, it doesn’t show on his face. 

Naruto’s not like him, though, never able to dissuade or cover his feelings with a mask—always letting his heart roll off his sleeves. He grits his teeth, hot anger flooding through his veins that leaves him shaking, hands balled into fists. “They knew and still put that bounty on your head,” Naruto seethes, brows pulled together painfully. “All this time and _they _were the reason—Damn it, damn it, _damn it _!”

Everything that’s happened between them all boiled down to a few people who never gave a shit about the consequences. They barely had to lift a finger to destroy all those lives and the pain that followed afterwards.

“Why aren’t you angry?” Naruto calls out to Sasuke, who’s been watching him this entire time—expression remaining unchanged throughout. It only pisses him off more, though Naruto has no clue as to why. “This happened to _you _, Sasuke!”

“I already let myself feel enough,” Sasuke replies. “Before I act, I wanted to gauge your reaction.”

“_ Why _?”

“Because I’m going to kill them.”

Although the words are unexpected, Naruto can’t say he’s exactly surprised. If Sasuke is willing to kill his brother, he’d be willing to end anyone who crosses him. 

“Maybe I was foolish to believe after Itachi’s death, we’d be allowed to live our lives freely without obstacle,” Sasuke says, and there’s a note of bitterness that seeps through the carefully constructed emptiness on his face. “I know I promised you I’d be with you after Itachi’s dead, but I have to do this.”

“I know.”

“If you follow me down this road, Naruto, you’ll be branded a criminal the same as me.” There’s an intensity in his gaze that strikes Naruto down to his core. “If you try and stop me, I can’t guarantee you won’t be caught in the crossfire. If you leave, I won’t blame you.”

Naruto stares at Sasuke as if he’s shot him.

“You think I’d leave you, Sasuke?”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” Sasuke replies, unblinking. “These are your options, Naruto. I know how you feel about Konoha, and this is me giving you an out.”

“God, you’re really fucking stupid, aren’t you, Sasuke?”

The question must catch Sasuke off guard, considering the way his mouth turns into a straight line, merely staring at Naruto. Any other time Naruto would’ve considered it cute, but now, it only makes him that much angrier. 

Not as Sasuke, but at himself. 

“Maybe I wasn’t clear when I told you what I wanted,” Naruto says, stepping close enough so his words can be felt rather than simply heard. He takes Sasuke’s hand in his own, grip tight. “Don’t care where we go or what we do, I just want you there with me. Now that I’ve got you back, I’m not letting you go.”

Sasuke glances down at their entangled hands, brows furrowing before glancing back up at Naruto. “Think about this, Naruto. If you follow me through with this, you’ll never be allowed back in Konoha again. You’ll never go home.”

“You’re my home,” Naruto says without hesitation. “Don’t you get that?”

“But—”

“All those years I’ve been chasing you, Sasuke, and I’ve never felt that ache for Konoha that I’ve felt for you.” There’s a seriousness in his gaze, in the harsh, angry rasp of his voice. “I’m not walking away from you. If we die, we die together. You understand me?”

A quiet gasp escapes from Sasuke as he turns his head away from Naruto. It takes Naruto a second to realize why when he sees a tear stream down his face. 

“It’s not revenge you’ve been chasing, Sasuke. It’s justice. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, too.”

“What if you regret it?”

“The only regret I’ve ever had is not reaching you sooner.”

Naruto brings Sasuke’s knuckles to his lips to kiss the skin, a promise. 

***

A year passes by so quick, Sakura wonders where the time’s gone. 

The five of them are scattered around the fire, Sakura leaning against Karin who plays absentmindedly with her hair—content with the warmth of the fire and the other woman enveloping her. Across the distance, Naruto’s concentrating on trimming Sasuke’s hair that’s grown out as Sasuke argues with Juugo and Suigetsu over an incident while they were hunting. Despite the noise, it’s a relatively peaceful night. One they earned through bitter tears and blood.

Months ago after the discovery of the Uchiha massacre, they had returned to Konoha and executed the council members responsible. Everything spirareled quickly afterwards.

Once those in power had been eradicated, Tsunade had returned to her rightful place as mayor, and Kakashi had taken up as the town’s sheriff. Both of them grateful for the work Sasuke and his crew had done, but unable to erase the public’s mind for all the heinous and criminal activity required. 

Neither of them minded. If they must be the villains in order to enact peace, then so be it. It had taken Sakura several months to come to terms with this, but now, sitting in the fire with her closest friends, she didn’t have any regrets.

All they had now was the freedom of the open country before them. The wind in their hair with the rush of being chased by the law, those who believed they could take them for money, saving the downtrodden that had slipped through the system’s fingers. 

Whispers of Taka spread throughout the country, with no one deciding on whether they were heroes or vigilantes. 

Sakura supposes they didn’t mind.

“Oi, Sakura, how does this bastard look from over there?” Naruto asks, a grin on his face as he tilts Sasuke’s head by the grip he has in his hair, showing off the sides. There’s an annoyed expression on Sasuke’s face, but Sakura knows better—if it bothered him so much, Naruto’s hand would’ve already been slapped away. “More presentable?”

“Still looks like a miserable son of a bitch to me,” she responds cheekily.

Sasuke throws her a middle finger, a small smile splayed on his lips as Naruto tilts his head back to plant a kiss on his mouth at the awkward angle. Warmth blooms in Sakura’s chest at the sight.

Maybe they’d never have a permanent place besides each other. Maybe the world will never agree on who they were, but that didn’t matter.

All those years of chasing and they were finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos/comments :) They're always appreciated <3  
Let me know your thoughts! 
> 
> I'm bitchynaruto/sapphicvevo on tumblr! @bihetnaruto on twitter LOL

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed! :~)
> 
> I'm @sapphicvevo on tumblr! My Naruto sideblog is @adhdsasuke !


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